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PRINCETON  .  NEW  JERSEY 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
ROBERT  ELLIOTT  SPEER 


BX  9211  .B8  L33  1885 
Brooklyn  (New  York,  N.Y.)- 

Lafayette  Avenue 
Lafayette  Avenue  Church,  it^ 

history  and  commemorative 


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Lafayette  Avenue  Church. 


Dr.  T.  L.  Cuyler's  Books. 


God's  Light  on  Dark  Clouds  ;  Or,  Words  of  Sympathy  and 
Cheer  for  the  Bereaved.     Square,  limp,  gilt  edges,         -        .75 

Mr.  Spl'RCEon  on  Dr.  Cuyler. — ''  For  sentences  that  strike  and  stick, 
gems  that  gleam  and  glow,  and  thoughts  that  thrill,  commend  us  to  our 
American  friend." 

The  Empty  Crib,  with  Words  of  Consolation  for  Bereaved 
Parents.    Gilt, $1.00. 

"  A  real  gem :  the  outpouring  of  a  stricken  parent's  sorrows  into  the 
very  bosom  of  the  Saviour," — Christian  Advocate. 

Thought  Hives.    With  Portrait, $1.50 

Pointed  Papers  for  the  Christian  Life,         _        -        _    $1.50 

"  Good  nature,  human  sympathy,  and  Christian  zeal  kindle  all  Mr. 
Cuyler's  pages  into  a  magnetic  warmth.  Genial,  open-hearted,  and  fas- 
cinating in  his  style,  both  spoken  and  written,  he  has  made  for  himself  a 
land-wide  reputation,  and  written  his  name  everywhere  as  a  household 
word."— TV.  Y.  Evangelist. 

From  the  Nile  to   Norway  and  Homeward.    Illus- 
trated,     -.-_-_--_-    $1,50 

"Dr.  Cuyler  bad  a  delightful  trip,  saw  much  and  wrote  of  all  he  saw 
whilst  its  impressions  were  fresh,  and  now,  in  thirty-one  sprrkling  chap- 
ters, gives  us  a  chance  to  look  through  his  eyes.  No  traveller  could  see 
more,  no  pen  picture  more  clearly,  than  the  ever  genial,  loving  Doctor's." 
— Independent  Methodist. 

The  Cedar  Christian.    i8mo, .75 

Stray  Arrows.    i8mo, --.60 


ROBERT    CARTER    &    BROTMEJRS, 

530    BROADWAY.    NEW    YORK 


Lafayette  Avenue  Church. 


Its  History  '^ 


^y  OF  PBiJJcp^ 


OCT  27  195! 


Logical  st^^ 


Commemorative  Services. 


1860-1885. 


Rev.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  Pastor. 


PREPARED   BY  A  COMMITTER   OF  THE   OHUROH. 


NEW  YORK: 
ROBERT    CARTER    &    BROTHERS. 

530    BROADWAY. 


Copyright,  1885,  by 
Robert  Carter  &  Brothers. 


Edward  O.  Jenkins'  Sons, 

Printers    and    Stereotypers, 

20  North  Williavi  Street^  New  York. 


¥ 


INTRODUCTORY    NOTE. 


During  the  first  week  of  April,  1885,  the 
Lafayette  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  of 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  celebrated  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  their 
first  Pastor,  Rev.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  D.D. 
As  a  permanent  commemoration  of  this 
event,  it  was  decided  to  publish  a  narra- 
tion of  the  Jubilee  services,  with  Historical 
sketches  of  the  Church,  its  Sunday-schools, 
and  the  Young  People's  Association.  The 
preparation  of  the  matter  for  publication  was 
entrusted  to  the  following  Committee : 

Daniel  W.  Fish,  Alonzo  A.  Plant, 

D.  W.  McWiLLiAMS,       William  Jarvie, 
Edward  C.  Seymour,    John  R.  Dayton, 
William  Mumford,        Wm.  W.  Wickes, 

ex  officio. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Jubilee  Services. 

Committees 8 

Order  of  Exercises 9 

Scripture  Readings,  etc , .  11 

Sabbath  Morning  Service.  23 
Historical   Discourse,  by 

the  Pastor 24 

Afternoon  Service — by  the 

Sunday-school 53 

Invocation 54 

Scripture  Readings,  etc . .  57 
Address  —  Supt.    D.   W. 

McWilliams 63 

Address — Ralph  Wells  . .  70 

Address — ^J.  Wanamaker.  82 

Address — Dr.  Cuyler 94 

Reunion  Monday 
Evening. 

Reception,  Guests,  etc. . .  loi 
Prayer — Rev.  Thomas  A. 

Nelson 107 


PAGE 

Letters  Read 1 1 1 

Address  —  Eld.  John  N. 

Beach 113 

Address— Mayor  Low. . .   118 

Letters  Read 1 23 

Address  —  Richard       S. 

Storrs,  D.D 127 

Address  —  Charles      S. 

Robinson,  D.D 144 

Address — Dr.  Cuyler 152 

Letters  Read 1 59 

Historical  Sketch, 
Methods,  etc. 

Organization 184 

Constitution 186 

Members  and  Officers. . .  188 
Call   and    Installation   of 

Dr.  Cuyler 192 

New  Church  Edifice 194 

Official  Boards 197 

Narrative,— Miscellaneous  199 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Temperance  Organization  205 

Revivals  of  1866  and  1872  208 

Methods  of  Work 212 

Confession  of  Faith 217 

Covenant 218 

Methods — Finances,  etc..  222 

The  Sabbath-School. 

Its  Organization 226 

Officers 227 

Work  and  Results 227 

Infant  Class 232 

Missionary  Association. .  235 

Specimen  Reports 238 

Cuyler  Mission  Band  ....  242 

The  Library 243 

Teachers'  Meetings 245 

Bible-Classes,  etc 247 

May  Anniversaries 248 

Mission  Schools 250 

Conclusion 253 


PAGE 

The  Young  People's 
Association. 

Organization  of  the  Young 
People's  Prayer -Meet- 
ing    256 

Methods  of  Work 257 

Order  of  Exercises 262 

Methods,  Attendance,  etc.  263 
Report  at  Annual  Meeting  265 

Active  Members 267 

Deaths  and  Dismissals. . ,   269 
Organization  of  the  Young 
People's  Association. . .   270 

Committees 271 

Methods  of  Work,  etc. .  .   272 
Successive  Anniversaries.  277 

Loan  Exhibition 285 

Constitution 293 

By-Laws 300 

Officers  Elected  from  1867 
to  1884,  inclusive 302 

Officers  for  1885 303 


JUBILEE     SERVICES. 

April  5th  and  6th,  1885. 


The  Lafayette  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  was 
organized  by  the  Presbytery  of  Brooklyn  on  the  9th 
of  July,  1857.  Its  original  name  was  the  "Park 
Presbyterian  Church,"  and  its  present  name  was 
adopted  in  1862,  after  the  completion  of  the  present 
edifice  on  Lafayette  Avenue.  During  the  first  fifteen 
months,  the  pulpit  of  its  temporary  chapel  (on  the 
corner  of  Carlton  and  DeKalb  Avenues)  was  occu- 
pied by  Professor  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock,  D.D.,  of  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary.  On  the  termination 
of  his  services,  the  Rev.  Lyman  Whiting,  D.D.,  of 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  was  invited  to  take  charge  of 
the  infant  church.  He  preached  for  them  only  six 
months,  and  was  never  installed  in  the  pastorate. 

On  the  7th  of  February,  i860,  the  Rev.  Theodore 
Ledyard  Cuyler,  of  New  York,  was  unanimously 
elected  as  the  first  pastor.  He  accepted  the  call, 
and  entered  upon  his  duties  on  the  morning  of 
Easter  Sabbath,  April  8,  i860.  After  a  quarter  of  a 
century  of  happy  union  between  the  pastor  and  the 

(7) 


8  HISTORY  OF  THE 

flock,  the  congregation  determined  to  celebrate  the 
Twenty-fifth  anniversary  by  public  Jubilee  services. 
Accordingly  a  preliminary  meeting  was  held,  and 
the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  as  the  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements : 

Chairman, 
WILLIAM   W.  WICKES. 

Committee  from  Board  of  Elders, 
John  N.  Beach,  Gilbert  H.  White, 

W.  W.  WicKES,  Coll  J.  Turner. 

Committee  from  Board  of  Trustees^ 

William  W.  Goodrich,         Dr.  William  Jarvie, 
Valentine  Snedeker,  Michael  Snow. 

Committee  from  Board  of  Deacons, 
Samuel  T.  Dauchy,  Edward  R.  Chapel, 

John  D.  Fish,  William  T.  Whitmore. 

Com  nittee  from  Young  People* s  Association, 

Clinton  L.  Rqssiter,  Grenville  Perrin, 

John  R.  Dayton,  Caleb  V.  Smith. 

Committee  from  Sabbath-school  and  Olivet  Chapel, 
D.  W.  McWiLLiAMS,  Horace  B.  Griffing. 

Committee  from  the  Congregation, 
Oliver  G.  Gear,  D.  H.  Houghtaling, 

Charles  G.  Emery,  E.  L.  Kalbfleisch, 

J.  E.  Kelsey,  Alfred  H.  Porter, 

John  E.  Miller. 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE  CHURCH. 

Committee  on  Decorations, 
W.  Frothingham  Smith,       Miss  Libbie  F.  Force, 


T.  L.  CuYLER,  Jr., 
George  E.  Fahys, 
w.  h.  forman, 
E.  L.  Snow, 
James  Macnaughtan, 
Miss  Hattie  Massey, 


LiLLIE    E.  TOOKER, 

Grace  S.  Boynton, 
Mabel  D.  Goodrich, 
Nellie  Foster, 
Helen  Force, 
Edith  Burtis. 


Committee  to  Prepare  History  of  Church  and  Proceedings 
of  Anniversary, 

Daniel  W.  Fish,  Alonzo  A.  Plant, 

D.  W.  McWilliams,  John  R.  Dayton, 

Edward  C.  Seymour,  William  Mumford, 

William  Jarvie,  Jr.,  Wm.  W.  Wickes,  ex  officio. 

The  Committee  on  Public  Exercises  issued  from 
the  printing-press  of  Mr.  S.  B.  Leverich  the  follow- 
ing Order  of  Exercises  prefaced  by  a  tasteful  vignette, 
designed  by  Mr.  Edgar  Forman  : 

TWENTY-FIFTH   ANNIVERSARY 

of  the  pastorate  of 

REV.  THEODORE  L.  CUYLER,  D.D., 

of  the 

Lafayette  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Sabbath,  April  5,  1885. 


10  HISTORY   OF  THE 


MORNING  SERVICE. 


Anthem,  "Gloria  in  Excelsis." 

Invocation. 

Reading  of  Scriptures. 

Hymn  No.  300. 

Prayer. 

Notices  and  Offertory. 

"  How  lovely  are  the  Messengers  who  Preach  the  Gospel 

of  Peace." 

Easter  Hymn  No.  305. 

Historical  Sermon  by  the  Pastor. 

Hymn  No.  824. 

Prayer  and  Benediction. 


EVENING  SERVICE. 


Anthem,  "Bonum  Est,  etc." 

Reading  of  Scriptures. 

Hymn  No.  312. 

Prayer. 

Hymn,  "Beautiful  Zion." 

Sermon  on  "Our  Future  Home." 

By  Professor  Archibald  Alexander  Hodge,  D.D., 

Princeton,  N.  J. 

Prayer. 

Hymn  No.  329 ;  "  Miles  Lane." 

Benediction. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  II 

Order  of  Services 

of  the 

SAB  BATH -SCHOOLS 

At  three  o'clock,  P.  M. 


Organ  Voluntary. 
Processional, — "  Onward,  Christian  Soldiers." 
Onward,  Christian  soldiers,  marching  as  to  war. 
With  the  Cross  of  Jesus  going  on  before. 
Christ  the  Royal  Master  leads  against  the  foe, 
Forward  into  battle,  see.  His  banners  go. 

Chorus. — Onward,  Christian  soldiers,  marching  as  to  war, 
With  the  cross  of  Jesus  going  on  before. 

Like  a  mighty  army  moves  the  Church  of  God  ; 
Brothers,  we  are  treading  where  the  saints  have  trod  ; 
We  are  not  divided,  all  one  body  we  ; 
One  in  hope  and  doctrine,  one  in  charity. 

Cho. — Onward,  Christian  soldiers,  marching  as  to  war. 
Invocation, — H.  B.  Griffing,  Sup't  of  Olivet  Mission. 


SCRIPTURE  READINGS,—^// .f/ar«^/«^. 

Stip't.     Praise  ye  the  Lord.     Praise  ye  the  name  of  the 
Lord ;  praise  him,  O  ye  servants  of  the  Lord. 


12  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Schools.  Ye  that  stand  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  in  the 
courts  of  the  house  of  our  God, 

Suft.  Praise  the  Lord ;  for  the  Lord  is  good :  sing 
praises  unto  his  name  ;  for  it  is  pleasant. 

Schools.  Both  young  men,  and  maidens ;  old  men,  and 
children : 

Sup't.  Let  them  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord :  for  his 
name  alone  is  excellent ;  his  glory  is  above  the  earth  and 
heaven. 

Schools.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord, 
and  to  sing  praises  unto  thy  name,  O  Most  High  : 

Suft.  Praise  the  Lord,  O  Jerusalem  ;  praise  thy  God,  O 
Zion. 

Schools.  For  he  hath  strengthened  the  bars  of  thy  gates ; 
he  hath  blessed  thy  children  within  thee. 

Siip't.  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  from  everlasting  to 
everlasting  upon  them  that  fear  him,  and  his  righteousness 
unto  children's  children. 

Schools.  To  such  as  keep  his  covenant,  and  to  those  that 
remember  his  commandments  to  do  them. 

Sup't.  Bless  ye  the  Lord,  all  ye  his  hosts ;  ye  ministers 
of  his,  that  do  his  pleasure. 

Schools.  Bless  the  Lord,  all  his  works  in  all  places  of  his 
dominion  :  bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul. 

All.  Let  every  thing  that  hath  breath  praise  the  Lord. 
Praise  ye  the  Lord. 

Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow  : 
Praise  Him,  all  creatures  here  below : 
Praise  Him  above,  ye  heavenly  host : 
Praise  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH. 


13 


RESPONSIVE. 

Voices  of  the  Old.  Echoes  or  the  New. 

Arise,  shine ;  for  thy  light        Let  your  light  so  shine  be- 

is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the    fore  men,  that  they  may  see 

Lord  is  risen  upon  thee.  your  good  works,  and  glorify 

— Isa.6o:i.    your    Father   which    is    in 

heaven.  MaU.  5  :  16. 

And  the  ransomed  of  the        Ye  are  come  unto  Mount 

Lord  shall  return,  and  come    Sion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the 

to  Zion  with  songs  and  ever-    living    God,    the    heavenly 

lasting  joy  upon  their  heads.    Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innu- 

— Isa.  35  :  10.    merable  company  of  angels- 

— He^.  12  :22. 


Joy  and  gladness  shall  be 
found  therein,  thanksgiving, 
and  the  voice  of  melody. 

—Isa.  51  -.3. 

Thou  shalt  call  thy  walls 
Salvation,  and  thy  gates 
Praise.  — Isa.  12:3. 


And  to  know  the  love  of 
Christ,  which  passeth  knowl- 
edge, that  ye  might  be  filled 
with  all  the  fulness  of  God. 
—E^/i.  3:19. 

For  I  am  not  ashamed  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ :  for  it  is 
the  power  of  God  unto  sal- 
vation to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth.  — J^om.i:i6. 


Therefore  with  joy  shall  In  the  last  day,  that  great 

ye  draw  water  out  of   the  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  stood 

wells  of  salvation.  and  cried,  saying.  If  any  man 

— /sa.6o:iS.  thirst,   let   him   come    unto 

me,  and  drink. 

— yo/m  7  :37. 


H 


HISTORY   OF  THE 


The  lines  are  fallen  unto 
me  in  pleasant  places  ;  yea,  I 
have  a  goodly  heritage. 

—Fsa.  i6 : 6. 


And  all  thy  children  shall 
be  taught  of  the  Lord  ;  and 
great  shall  be  the  peace  of 
thy  children.      — Isa.  54 :  13. 

That  our  sons  may  be  as 
plants  grown  up  in  their 
youth ;  that  our  daughters 
may  be  as  corner  stones, 
polished  after  the  similitude 
of  a  palace.      — Psa.  144 : 1 2. 

He  shall  feed  his  flock 
like  a  shepherd,  he  shall 
gather  the  lambs  with  his 
arm,  and  carry  them  in  his 
bosom.  — Isa.  40 : 1 1. 


Thou  wilt  keep  him  in 
perfect  peace,  whose  mind 
is  stayed  on  thee ;  because 
he  trusteth  in  thee. 

—Isa.  26 : 3. 


Blessed  be  the  God  and 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  hath  blessed  us 
with  all  spiritual  blessings 
in  heavenly  places  in  Christ. 
£p/i.  I  :  3. 

And  if  children,  then 
heirs ;  heirs  of  God,  and 
joint  heirs  with  Christ. 

— Ro?;i.  8:  17. 

And  will  be  a  Father  unto 
you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons 
and  daughters,  saith  the 
Lord  Almighty. 

—2  Cor.  6:18. 


I  am  the  good  shepherd, 
and  know  my  sheep,  and  am 
known  of  mine.  And  he 
took  them  up  in  his  arms, 
put  his  hands  upon  them, 
and  blessed  them. 

— Mark  10 :  16. 

Peace  I  leave  with  you, 
my  peace  I  give  unto  you  : 
not  as  the  world  giveth,  give 
I  unto  you.     — Joh7i  14 :  27. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH. 


15 


Oh  how  great  is  thy  good- 
ness, which  thou  hast  laid 
up  for  them  that  fear  thee ; 
which  thou  hast  wrought  for 
them  that  trust  in  thee  be- 
fore the  sons  of  men. 

— Psa.  31 .  19. 

What  shall  I  render  unto 
the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits 
towards  me? 

— Psa.  116: 12. 


Ho,  every  one  that  thirst- 
eth,  come  ye  to  the  waters, 
and  he  that  hath  no  money ; 
come  ye,  buy,  and  eat ;  yea, 
come,  buy  wine  and  milk 
without  money  and  without 
price.  — Isa.  55  :  i. 


But  as  it  is  written,  Eye 
hath  not  seen  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man,  the  things 
(vhich  God  hath  prepared 
for  them  that  love  him. 

— I  Cor.  2  : 9. 

Go  home  to  thy  friends, 
and  tell  them  how  great 
things  the  Lord  hath  done 
for  thee,  and  hath  had  com= 
passion  on  thee. 

-»     — Mark  5:19. 

And  the  Spirit  and  the 
bride  say.  Come.  And  let 
him  that  heareth  say.  Come. 
And  let  him  that  is  athirst 
come.  And  whosoever  will, 
let  him  take  the  water  of 
life  freely.         — Rev.  21  wj. 


Hymn, — "  Wonderful  Words  of  Life." 
Sing  them  over  again  to  me, 

Wonderful  words  of  Life, 
Let  me  more  of  their  beauty  see. 

Wonderful  words  of  Life. 
Words  of  life  and  beauty. 
Teach  me  faith  and  duty ; 

Beautiful  words,  wonderful  words, 
Wonderful  words  of  Life. 


l6  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Sweetly  echo  the  gospel  call, 

Wonderful  words  of  Life, 
Offer  pardon  and  peace  to  all, 

Wonderful  words  of  Life. 
Jesus,  only  Saviour, 
Sanctify  forever, 

Beautiful  words,  wonderful  words, 
Wonderful  words  of  Life. 

Pastor.  I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  my  God :  yea,  thy  law 
is  within  my  heart. 

I  have  preached  righteousness  in  the  great  congregation : 
lo,  I  have  not  refrained  my  lips,  O  Lord,  thou  knowest. 

I  have  not  hid  thy  righteousness  within  my  heart ;  I  have 
declared  thy  faithfulness. 

For  I  determined  not  to  know  anything  among  you,  save 
Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified. 

For  what  is  our  hope,  our  joy,  or  crown  of  rejoicing? 
Are  not  even  ye  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
at  his  coming  1 

For  ye  are  our  glory  and  joy. 

Schools  {rising).  How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are 
the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good  tidings,  that  publishetli 
peace ;  that  bringeth  good  tidings  of  good,  that  publisheth 
salvation  ;  that  saith  unto  Zion,  Thy  God  reigneth  ! 

Infant  Class.    The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee  : 

Schools.  The  Lord  make  his  face  shine  upon  thee,  and 
be  gracious  unto  thee  : 

Olivet  School.  The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon 
thee,  and  give  thee  peace. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  \^ 

All.  Blessing,  and  glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving, 
and  honor,  and  power,  and  might,  be  unto  our  God  for  ever 
and  ever.    Amen. 


Hymn,— r^^  Children's  Greeting.— k,  K.  W. 

Greetings  now  we  bring  thee. 

On  this  Easter  day, 
Day  of  joy  and  gladness, 

Brightening  all  the  way ; 
Day  of  Christ  triumphant, 

In  whose  name  ye  stand, 
In  whose  name  are  gathered 

This  loyal,  household  band. 

Chorus. — Greetings  now  we  bring  thee. 
On  this  Easter  day. 
Day  of  joy  and  gladness. 
Brightening  all  the  way. 

We,  the  children's  children, 

Gladly  raise  this  song. 
Praying  God  in  mercy 

That  thy  days  prolong ; 
Praying  Him  to  grant  thee, 

When  thy  crown  is  won. 
Jewels  of  His  setting — 

Welcome  words,  "  well  done." 

Cho. — Greetings  now  we  bring  thee. 


l8  HISTORY   OF   THE 

We,  the  children's  children, 

For  thy  welfare  pray ; 
Ours  to  reap  the  harvest. 

Sown  along  the  way ; 
God  give  faith  and  wisdom, 

Plenitude  of  grace, 
To  keep  unquenched  the  fire. 

Kindled  in  this  place. 

Cho. — Greetings  now  we  bring  thee. 

Courage,  faithful  Pastor ! 

Though  the  years  have  sped, 
Though  a  host  of  loved  ones 

From  thy  side  have  fled, 
Not  in  vain  the  labor 

Of  these  years  shall  be, 
God  himself  keeps  record 

In  e-ter-ni-ty. 
Cho. — Greetings  now  we  bring  thee. 

Introductory  Address,—/?.  IV.  Mc  Williams, 

Sup't  of  Church  School. 

Salutations  to  the  Pastor, — Schools  will  rise. 

Suft.    The  brethren  which  are  with  me,  greet  you. 

Schools.     Mercy  unto  you,  and  peace,  be  multiplied. 

Suft.    The  whole  church  saluteth  you. 

Schools  and  Co7igregatiofi.  Grace  be  with  you ;  mercy 
and  peace  from  God  the  Father,  and  from  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Father,  in  truth  and  love. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  I9 

Sup  t.  O  man,  greatly  beloved,  fear  not ;  peace  be  unto 
thee. 

Schools.  Grace  to  you,  and  peace  from  God  our  Father, 
and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Address, — Mr,  Ralph  Wells. 

Hymn, — Infant  Class. 

The  sweetest  words  I  have  ever  read 
Are  the  loving  words  that  the  Saviour  said : 
"  Suffer  the  children  to  come  to  me." 
Who  would  ever  thought  of  this  but  He  ? 

Chorus. — "  Suffer  the  children  to  come  to  me," 
"  Suffer  the  children  to  come  to  me  "; 
I  am  as  glad  as  glad  can  be ; 
Those  very  words  were  meant  for  me. 

I  wonder  what  I  should  ever  do, 
If  the  Saviour  had  only  called  a  few ; 
Taking  the  old,  and  the  wise  and  great ; 
Oh,  I  am  so  glad  I  need  not  wait. 

Cho. — Suffer  the  children  to  come  to  me,  etc. 
Address, — Mr.  John  Wanamaker. 

Hymn, — Come,  We  that  Love  the  Lord. 

Come,  we  that  love  the  Lord, 

And  let  our  joys  be  known. 
Join  in  a  song  with  sweet  accord, 

And  thus  surround  the  throne. 


20  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Chorus. — We're  marching  to  Zion, 
Beautiful,  beautiful  Zion, 
We're  marching  upward  to  Zion, 
The  beautiful  city  of  God. 

Let  those  refuse  to  sing 

Who  never  knew  our  God  ; 
But  children  of  the  heavenly  King, 

May  speak  their  joys  abroad. 
Cho. — We're  marching  to  Zion,  etc. 

Address, — By  the  Pastor, 

Hymn,—"  Our  Sabbath  Ho7ner—'E.  V.  H. 

"  Like  doves  to  their  windows  "  the  glad  children  come, 
To  meet  with  rejoicing  in  our  Sabbath  home, 
And  plight  with  our  Pastor,  so  faithful  and  true. 
At  this  Silver  Wedding  our  promise  anew. 

Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home, 
With  gladness  the  children  now  gather  at  home. 

United  in  heart  and  united  in  hand ; 
Both  sorrow  and  gladness  have  strengthened  the  band  ; 
Sweet  counsel  together,  with  prayer  and  with  praise. 
And  blessings  unnumbered  have  crowned  our  days. 

Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home. 
One  household  of  faith  we  would  worship  at  home. 

We  think  of  the  absent,  for  sweet  is  the  tie, 

With  those  whom  the  blood  of  the  Saviour  makes  nigh. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  21 

We  yearn  for  the  dear  ones,  for  those  gone  above, 
Who  sing  the  "  old  story  "  of  Christ  and  his  love. 

Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home. 
Who,  going  before  us,  are  gathered  at  home. 

Though  soon  we  be  sundered  by  land  and  by  tide, 
Our  hearts  will  still  follow  our  shepherd  and  guide. 
And  pray  the  dear  Father  who  sees  from  above, 
To  watch,  and  protect,  and  return  him  in  love ; 

Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home. 
May  his  waiting  people  soon  welcome  him  home. 

Benediction. 

Pastor.  Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  keep  you  from 
falling,  and  to  present  you  faultless  before  the  presence  of 
his  glory  with  exceeding  joy, 

All.  To  the  only  wise  God  our  Saviour,  be  glory  and 
majesty,  dominion  and  power,  both  now  and  ever.     Amen. 


MONDAY  EVENING, 
April  6th. 
A  reception  to  the  pastor  and  a  social  re-union  of  the 
congregation  will  be  held  in  the  Church  and  the  Church 
parlors.  All  the  present  and  former  members  of  the  con- 
gregation are  expected  to  be  present  without  special  cards 
of  invitation.  The  doors  on  Oxford  Street  will  be  open  at 
seven  o'clock.  The  exercises  in  the  Church  will  commence 
at  half-past  eight  o'clock.  Mr.  William  W.  Wickes  will 
preside. 


22  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Opening  Prayer, — Rev.  Thomas  A,  Nelson. 

Addresses, 

Mr.  'John  N.  Beach,  Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs,  D.D., 

Hon.  Seth  Low,  Rev.  Charles  S.  Robinson,  D.D. 

The  following  musical  selections  will  be  rendered : 

Quartet, Costa. 

Duet,  .        .    "Quis  est  homo,"    .        .    Rossmi. 

Miss  A.M.  Whitacre,  Soprano.    Mr.  C,  H.  Tho7npso7i,  Tenor. 
Miss  E.  Wilkinson,  Contralto.     Mr.  M.  H.  Burch,  Bass. 
Mr.  John  H.  Brewer,  Organist. 

instrumental  music  during  the  evening. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  23 


SABBATH    MORNING   SERVICE. 

A  brighter  day  never  dawned  than  the  Easter 
Sabbath  of  1885.  A  crowd  of  auditors  poured  into 
Lafayette  Avenue  Church,  filling  every  pew,  and 
overflowing  the  aisles.  The  pulpit  could  scarcely 
be  seen,  for  the  thicket  of  blossoming  tube-roses 
and  calla-lilies  which  surrounded  it.  A  broad  band 
of  flowers,  of  every  hue,  lined  the  front  of  the  gal- 
leries ;  and  along  the  walls  were  stars  of  palm- 
leaves.  On  the  front  of  the  organ-gallery,  behind 
the  Pastor's  head,  were  the  figures  "  1860-1885," 
worked  in  white  immortelles  on  a  crimson  ground. 
In  the  pulpit  were  seated  the  Rev.  Dr.  Archibald 
Alexander  Hodge,  of  Princeton  Seminary  (a  class- 
mate of  Dr.  Cuyler),  and  his  friend.  Rev.  Henry 
Upson,  of  New  Preston,  Connecticut.  The  lesson 
of  Scripture  was  read  by  Mr.  Upson,  and  the  Pastor 
made  the  opening  praj^er.  The  vast  audience  joined 
in  singing  the  majestic  hymn,  "In  the  Cross  of 
Christ  I  glory."  While  the  collection  was  being 
taken  up,  the  choir  chanted  "  How  lovely  are  the 
messengers  who  preach  the  Gospel  of  Peace." 
After  this  an  Easter  hymn  was  sung.  Dr.  Cuyler 
then  rose,  and  delivered,  with  much  emotion,  the 
following 


24  HISTORY   OF  THE 

HISTORICAL     DISCOURSE. 

"  So  built  we  the  wall ;  for  the  people  had  a  mind  to 
work." — Neh.  iv.  6. 

Of  all  the  two-and-fifty  Sabbaths  of  the 
year,  the  Easter  Sabbath  is  the  keystone  and 
the  crown  ;  the  glorious  event  it  commemo- 
rates is  the  keystone  of  the  arch  of  Gospel- 
truth.  For  if  Christ  be  not  risen  from  the 
dead,  our  faith  is  vain.  This  morning  God*s 
sanctuaries  are  fragrant  with  vernal  flowers 
and  vocal  with  exultant  praise.  The  Easter 
carols,  circling  with  the  sun  and  ''keeping 
company  with  the  hours,"  belt  the  round 
earth  with  a  bright  bracelet  of  Hallelujahs  to 
the  risen  King.  Let  all  that  is  within  us 
praise  and  bless  His  holy  name  ! 

It  has  been  my  custom,  as  you  know,  to 
present  on  Easter  Sabbath  the  faith-confirm- 
ing facts  and  the  soul-kindling  truths  connect- 
ed with  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord.  But 
this  day  is  a  peculiar  one  in  our  calendar.  It 
erects  a  landmark  in  our  history  as  a  church. 
This  morning  the  Lafayette  Avenue   house- 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  2$ 

hold  of  Christ  flings  open  wide  her  doors  and 
welcomes  all  her  dear  children  /lome  :  for  this 
is  our  day  of  Jubilee. 

As  I  look  over  this  vast  assemblage,  my 
mind  wanders  back  to  another  Easter  Sabbath 
twenty-five  years  ago,  and  to  a  very  different 
congregation.  The  8th  of  April,  i860,  was  a 
sunless  day  ;  a  raw  northeaster  swept  among 
the  scattered  houses  on  this  hill,  and  the  low- 
ering clouds  rained  heavily.  Through  the 
driving  storm  a  faithful  band  of  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  souls  made  their  way  to  the 
small,  plain,  dingy  chapel  which  then  stood  on 
the  corner  of  DeKalb  and  Carlton  Avenues. 
The  building  had  once  been  a  mission  outpost, 
and  had  been  occupied  for  a  time  by  the  Park 
Congregational  Church.  The  congregation 
whose  call  I  had  accepted,  and  before  whom  I 
preached  on  that  Easter  Sabbath,  was  then 
known  as  the  **  Park  Presbyterian."  It  had 
been  organized  just  three  years  before  with 
forty-eight  members,  two-thirds  of  whom  were 
women.  Twenty-two  others  were  added  at  the 
first  communion  season,  swelling  the  number 


26  HISTORY   OF  THE 

to  seventy.  Of  those  seventy  persons  who 
sat  down  together  at  that  first  commemoration 
of  the  Saviour's  atoning  love,  only  the  follow- 
ing names  still  remain  on  our  church-roll : 
Mrs.  Ann  Mumford,  William  Mumford,  Julia 
Collins,  Dr.  James  Stewart,  Mrs.  Pamelia  Hop- 
kins, Mrs.  Mary  H.  Waite,  Mrs.  Eleanor  J. 
Thompson,  and  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Reeves.  All  the 
others  have  either  removed  to  various  locali- 
ties or  have  ''fallen  on  sleep." 

That  young  "  Park  Presbyterian  Church  " 
had  experienced  peculiar  vicissitudes.  It  had 
been  organized  on  the  9th  of  July,  1857  ;  and 
during  the  first  fifteen  months  of  its  existence, 
its  pulpit  was  occupied  by  my  brilliant  and 
beloved  brother.  Dr.  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock, 
then  a  Professor,  and  now  the  President  of  the 
"  Union  Theological  Seminary."  Having 
piloted  the  new-built  craft  out  into  the  open 
sea,  he  surrendered  the  helm  to  the  Rev.  Ly- 
man Whiting,  D.D.,  of  Portsmouth,  a  man  of 
fine  gifts  and  scholarship,  who  held  the  tiller 
very  doubtingly  for  just  six  months.  A  finan- 
cial gale  was  raging;    the  discouraged  com- 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  27 

mander  espied  a  dark  lea-shore  not  far  away, 
and  his  counsel  practically  was  that  "  those 
who  could  swim,  should  cast  themselves  into 
the  sea  and  get  to  land."  Several  of  the  crew 
made  signals  to  a  stout  Congregationalist 
''three-decker"  close  at  hand,  and  were  taken 
on  board.  The  gallant  remnant  of  the  crew 
nailed  their  true-blue  Presbyterian  colors  to 
the  mast,  and  determined  to  sink  or  swim  with 
the  ship.  There  was  an  ugly  debt  very  near 
the  rudder,  through  which  the '  storm-struck 
vessel  leaked  badly ;  but  brave  hearts  worked 
at  the  pumps,  and  kept  her  afloat.  The  same 
Eye  that  watched  the  little  bark  of  the  dis- 
ciples through  the  gale  on  Galilee,  was  watch- 
ing over  her ;  the  Lord  *'  had  need "  of  her. 
Every  Christian,  every  church,  every  moral 
enterprise  is  immortal  until  their  work  is 
done. 

Such  was  the  crippled  and  hazardous  condi- 
tion of  the  young  Park  Presbyterian  Church, 
when  in  February,  i860,  they  gave  me  an  unan- 
imous call  to  become  their  pastor.  I  was  then 
the  pastor  of  the  old  Market  Street  Reformed 


28  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Dutch  Church,  in  New  York  City,  and  I 
promptly  declined  the  invitation.  A  few 
weeks  later,  the  Market  Street  people  began 
to  falter  in  regard  to  their  project  of  planting 
their  edifice  in  the  new  and  growing  part  of 
the  city.  So  I  came  over  here  one  day  on  a 
reconnaissance.  This  region  of  Brooklyn  I 
remembered  having  once  seen  in  my  student 
days,  when  the  farmers  were  working  in  their 
fields  around  old  ''  Fort  Greene,"  and  on  the 
spot  we  occupy  to-day.  I  found  this  same 
region  very  partially  built  up,  with  the  popu- 
lation so  scattered  that  there  seemed  to  be  no 
field  for  another  church.  But  a  brief  study  of 
the  locality  convinced  me  that  in  a  few  years 
this  would  be  the  centre  of  Brooklyn.  I  sent 
for  the  Committee  of  the  Park  Church  and 
told  them  that  if  they  would  purchase  the  plot 
of  ground  on  the  corner  of  Lafayette  Avenue 
and  Oxford  Street,  and  pay  for  it  in  a  fort- 
night, and  then  pledge  themselves  to  build  on 
it  a  plain  edifice  that  would  hold  2,000  people, 
1  would  accept  their  call.  I  did  not  dream 
that  thev  would  assume  such  a  load  ;  "  but 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  29 

they  staggered  not  at  the  promise  through 
unbelief y  In  ten  days  the  land  was  bought 
and  paid  for  ;  and  on  the  next  Sabbath  morn- 
ing, while  the  Easter  bells  were  ringing  under 
the  dark,  stormy  sky,  I  came  over  and  faced 
for  the  first  time  the  brave  founders  of  Lafay- 
ette Avenue  Church.  They  were  men  and 
women  who  had  the  courage  of  their  convic- 
tions. My  first  text  was  the  keynote  of  my 
ministry :  "  I  determined  to  know  nothing 
among  you  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  cruci- 
fied." When  my  tongue  ceases  from  the 
music  of  that  heavenly  message,  may  death 
cleave  it  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  ! 

At  the  time  of  my  installation  as  pastor  of 
this  church  (April  24,  i860),  there  were  one 
hundred  and  forty  members  on  the  roll.  The 
Ruling  Elders  were  N.  W.  Burtis,  Edward  A. 
Lambert,  Dr.  Caleb  Hill,  William  Churchill, 
Dr.  Harrison  Teller,  and  Josiah  Widnell.  The 
Deacons  were  John  Rhodes,  Milo  Root, 
Ralph  Hunt,  and  J.  A.  Dudley.  The  Trustees 
were  E.  A.  Lambert,  N.  W.  Burtis,  L.  D. 
Simons,  Rufus  Crook,  WiUiam  A.  Doolittle, 


30  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Albion  Biggins,  Vernon  Thompson,  Thomas 
E.  Hastings,  and  John  G.  Voorhees.  Of  these 
seventeen  church  officers  only  six  survive.  To 
this  corps  of  officers  Capt.  Robert  Murray  was 
soon  added  ;  but  he  also  has  entered  the  haven 
of  eternal  rest. 

During  that  spring  and  summer  the  congre- 
gation increased  so  rapidly  that  in  the  autumn 
of  i860  it  was  found  necessary  to  commence 
the  erection  of  this  edifice.  It  required  some 
faith  to  set  about  such  an  undertaking  in  those 
troublous  times,  when  the  storm-signals  were 
flying  with  wild  portent  of  a  national  hurri- 
cane. We  broke  ground  here  during  the  week 
after  Abraham  Lincoln's  election  to  his  high 
place  of  peril  and  of  glory.  Five  months 
afterward,  when  the  walls  of  this  building 
were  scarcely  above  ground,  the  startling  re- 
port of  a  cannon  shook  the  land  from  sea  to 
sea ! 

"  And  then  we  saw  from  Sumter's  wall 
The  star-flag  of  the  Union  fall, 
And  armed  hosts  were  pressing  on 
The  broken  lines  of  Washington." 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  3 1 

Every  other  public  edifice  in  this  city,  then 
in  process  of  erection,  was  brought  to  a  stand  ; 
but  we  pushed  forward  the  work,  and  like 
Nehemiah's  builders,  with  the  trowel  in  one 
hand  and  a  weapon  in  the  other.  To  raise 
funds  for  the  structure  required  faith  and  self- 
denial,  and  in  this  labor  of  love  woman's  five 
fingers  were  busy  and  helpful.  One  brave  or- 
phan girl  gave  from  her  hard  earnings  as  a 
public  school  teacher,  a  sum  so  large  that  it 
inspired  other  gifts  which  turned  the  scale  and 
ensured  the  completion  of  the  structure. 
Justly  may  this  pulpit  vindicate  woman's  place 
and  woman's  province  in  the  cause  of  Christ 
and  humanity,  for  without  woman's  help  this 
pulpit  might  never  have  been  erected. 

On  the  1 6th  of  March,  1862,  the  sanctuary 
of  the  Lafayette  Avenue  Church  (for  such 
was  the  ecclesiastical  name  which  was  then  as- 
sumed), was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Al- 
mighty God,  and  to  the  proclamation  of  His 
Word.  From  its  tower  floated  that  day  the 
banner  of  our  country  ;  on  its  pulpit  was  lifted 
the  banner  of   the   Cross — God  helping  us, 


32  HISTORY   OF  THE 

neither  banner  shall  ever  come  down  !  A  hap- 
py and  a  holy  day  was  that  on  which  we  en- 
tered these  courts  of  the  living  God.  We  were 
in  the  midst  of  a  blessed  revival,  and  on  the 
first  Sabbath  here  sixtv  new  converts  were  add- 
ed  to  our  fellowship.  "  So  built  we  the  wall, 
for  the  people  had  a  mind  to  work." 

It  is  a  suggestive  fact  that  the  first  year  of 
this  church's  history  was  the  year  of  the  most 
remarkable  and  widespread  revivals  this  coun- 
try ever  saw.  Its  new  edifice  was  dedicated 
during  another  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
And  the  most  marked  event  that  followed  the 
closing  of  the  Civil  War,  was  the  glorious  re- 
vival of  1866.  It  commenced  on  the  8th  of 
January,  during  the  "  Week  of  Prayer,"  and 
for  several  months  our  devotional  meetings 
were  thronged  on  almost  every  evening  of  the 
week.  The  Divine  Spirit  was  present  as  a 
kindling  flame  of  fire.  The  work  was  carried 
forward  entirely  by  the  pastor  and  the  church, 
"  for  the  people  had  a  mind  to  work."  As  the 
result  of  that  most  precious  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  three  hundred  and  twenty  persons 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  33 

were  added  to  our  membership,  of  whom  about 
one  hundred  were  heads  of  households.  The 
communion  seasons  of  that  year  were  like  the 
encampment  of  Israel  at  Elim  beneath  the 
palm  trees,  and  beside  the  overflowing  wells 
of  water.  As  a  thank-offering  to  God  for  this 
rich  blessing,  a  Memorial  Mission  School  was 
established  in  Warren  Street  (now  Prospect 
Place),  which  was  soon  organized  into  the 
present  ''  Memorial  Presbyterian  Church," 
which  is  to-day  under  the  vigorous  ministry  of 
the  Rev.  Thomas  A.  Nelson,  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  churches  in  Brooklyn,  and  num- 
bering nearly  500  members. 

The  present  "  Fort  Greene  Presbyterian 
Church  "  also  grew  out  of  one  of  our  mission 
schools,  which  was  started  in  1861  by  Mr. 
William  W.  Wickes,  the  senior  elder  of  this 
church.  Under  his  efficient  superintendence 
the  school  increased  so  rapidly  that  the  present 
commodious  chapel  in  Cumberland  Street, 
near  Myrtle  Avenue,  was  erected  for  its  use  in 
1871.  Mr.  Dwight  L.  Moody  held  a  series  of 
remarkable  revival  meetings  there  immediately 


34  HISTORY   OF   THE 

prior  to  his  first  evangelistic  tour  in  Great 
Britain.  The  increase  of  the  congregation 
seemed  to  demand  the  formation  of  a  separate 
church,  and  accordingly  one  was  organized  by 
one  hundred  and  twelve  members  of  Lafayette 
Avenue  Church,  and  the  colony  took  the  name 
of  the  ''  Fort  Greene  Presbyterian  Church." 
The  beautiful  chapel — reared  at  the  cost  of 
$42,000 — was  presented  to  that  church,  and  is 
now  occupied  by  them.  The  mission  chapel 
in  Rochester  Avenue,  reared  mainly  by  the 
contributions  of  our  people,  is  now  the  sanctu- 
ary of  a  Congregational  church.  During  the 
winter  of  1867  a  conference  of  gentlemen  was 
held  in  yonder  study  which  resulted  in  the  in- 
ception of  the  present  prosperous  ''  Classon 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church."  We  contribu- 
ted one-half  of  its  three  boards  of  officers  and 
a  large  portion  of  its  original  membership. 
To-day  we  ''  exchange  signals  "  of  cordial  fra- 
ternity with  these  various  churches,  and  wish 
them  all  God-speed  in  their  heaven-appointed 
work.  Having  done  so  much  for  evangelical 
church  extension  in  Brooklyn,  have  we  yet 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  35 

done  enough  ?  Verily  nay  /  We  might  have 
done  more  in  the  past,  and  vastly  more  yet 
remains  to  be  done  if  Lafayette  Avenue 
Church  comes  up  to  the  measure  of  its  duty 
towards  the  neglected  masses  of  this  vast, 
swarming  city.  About  $70,000  have  been 
contributed  by  you  during  these  years  to  the 
noble  society  of  "  City  Missions."  Shall  we 
be  satisfied  with  this  ?  By  no  means  :  for  let 
us  be  assured  that  the  largest  church  will  die 
of  congestion  as  soon  as  it  ceases  to  send  off 
its  life-blood  into  new  channels  of  Christian 
activity. 

The  limits  of  this  brief  hour  forbid  me,  dear 
friends  and  flock,  from  narrating  the  whole 
story  of  the  last  twenty-five  happy  years ;  it 
may  be  written  out  soon  in  another  and  more 
enduring  form.  But  it  is  pertinent  to  enquire, 
if  the  Lafayette  Avenue  Church  has  ever  ac- 
complished any  solid  results  in  the  service  of 
God,  how  have  these  results  been  reached  ? 
By  what  rules  has  our  spiritual  architecture 
been  fashioned,  and  by  what  line  and  plummet 
have  the  walls  been  reared  ?   I  answer  that  first 


36  HISTORY   OF  THE 

of  all  we  have  kept  out  of  the  quagmire  of 
modern  doubts,  and  away  from  the  quicksands 
of  modern  theologies,  and  have  built  upon  that 
immovable  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief 
corner-stone.  That  adamantine  Rock  of  ages 
we  have  found  to  be  the  solid  basis  of  the  only 
doctrines  worth  preaching,  and  the  only  life 
worth  living.  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour  and 
Lord  is  the  source,  the  centre,  and  the  sum  of 
all  our  theology.  Before  the  eyes  of  thousands 
in  this  sanctuary,  the  Cross  of  the  bleeding, 
dying  Saviour  of  sinners  has  always  stood,  not 
needing,  thank  God !  to  be  propped  up  by 
human  argument,  but  only  to  be  pointed  at ! 
Reverently  be  it  said  that  if  our  spiritual  walls 
have  remained  firm,  it  was  because  they  have 
been  cemented  by  the  atoning  blood.  And  if 
the  time  should  ever  come  when  this  pulpit 
shall  utter  a  syllable  of  treason  to  the  perfect 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  perfect  su- 
premacy of  His  Cross,  may  the  lightnings  of 
God's  indignation  shiver  it,  and  may  the  con- 
suming fires  lav  this  noble  edifice  in  ashes. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  37 

Holding  firmly  to  the  Headship  of  Christ, 
we  have  held  with  equal  firmness  to  the  divine 
inspiration  of  the  infallible  Word  of  God.  No 
malaria  of  modern  doubt  has  ever  invaded 
yonder  study,  or  ever  been  permitted  to  poi- 
son the  atmosphere  of  this  house.  Nor  has 
your  pastor  ever  wasted  one  precious  moment 
in  defending  God's  Word.  It  has  been  well 
likened  to  that  *'  rock  which  a  ship-of-war  fired 
at  all  night — taking  it  for  an  enemy — but  could 
not  provoke  it  to  answer,  nor  succeed  in  sink- 
ing it."  Be  assured,  my  dear  friends,  that 
God  will  take  care  of  Flis  own  Book,  if  we 
only  take  care  to  preach  it  and  to  practice  it. 

The  Bible  is  our  sole  rule  of  faith  ;  but  in 
shaping  our  formulas  of  doctrine,  we  have  ad- 
hered pretty  closely  to  the  pattern  set  by  the 
wise  men  of  the  Westminster  Assembly.  We 
are  Presbyterians,  loyal  to  our  standards. 
Yet  I  am  confident  that  the  admirers  of  John 
Wesley  have  always  felt  quite  as  much  at  home 
here,  as  have  the  admirers  of  John  Owen  the 
Congregationalist,  or  John  Bunyan  the  Bap- 
tist, or  the  admirers  of  John  Knox  and  John 


38  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Calvin.  All  these  "beloved  Johns"  pasture 
here  together  like  the  flocks- of  Jacob  and  La- 
ban.  In  fact,  nobody  quarrels  in  Lafayette 
Avenue  Church. 

But  w^hile  we  have  held  tenaciously  to  the 
ancient  Pauline  theology,  we  have  tried  to  be 
hospitable  to  new  ideas.  Our  motto  has  been 
New  progress  in  the  old  paths  of  revealed 
Truth,  and  new  applications  of  an  unchanged 
Gospel  to  the  varying  demands  of  society  and 
the  age. 

The  late  Gerrit  Smith  once  said  to  me, 
"  You  seem  to  be  trying  to  build  modern  re- 
forms on  the  old  Bible  theology."  He  was 
right.  We  know  no  other  foundation  on 
which  to  base  all  moral  reforms  and  all  hopes 
of  human  progress.  Accordingly  this  pulpit 
stood  for  human  rights  and  the  emancipation 
of  the  slave  on  the  great  Scriptural  principles 
of  human  brotherhood  and  a  common  immor- 
tality. It  has  vindicated  woman*'s  right  to  con- 
secrate her  persuasive  voice  as  well  as  her  busy 
fingers  to  the  service  of  her  Master — just  as  in 
olden  times  Anna,  Priscilla,  Dorcas,  and  the 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  39 

daughters  of  Philip  employed  their  tongues 
and  hands.  To  lay  upon  woman  the  burdens 
of  the  ballot,  the  jury-box,  and  the  legislative 
hall,  we  hold  to  be  wrong,  because  God  has 
given  her  a  wider  empire  outside  of  politics. 
This  pulpit  has  always  defended  the  communi- 
ty of  interests  between  capital  and  labor,  on 
the  basis  of  the  "■  Golden  Rule."  It  has  de- 
nounced corruption  in  politics,  extravagance 
in  social  life,  and  knaveries  in  trade,  under 
whatever  coat  of  veneer  or  varnish.  This  pul- 
pit has  always  stoutly  advocated  the  duty  of 
total  abstinence  from  intoxicants,  both  on  the 
ground  of  God's  laws  written  on  the  body,  and 
the  law  of  love  to  the  weak  as  written  in  the 
New  Testament.  With  those  twin  curses,  the 
decanter  and  the  dram-shop,  we  have  kept  no 
quarter.  In  short,  by  co-operating  with  all 
wholesome  reforms  and  benevolent  enterprises 
and  the  grand  work  of  Missions,  at  home  and 
abroad,  we  have  aimed  to  keep  abreast  with 
the  times,  and  with  the  majestic  marchings  of 
God's  Providence  towards  the  full  redemption 
of  the  race.     "  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quick- 


40  HISTORY   OF  THE 

\y  ! "  has  been  the  prayer  to  whose  chime  every 
forward  step  has  been  taken. 

Secondly,  it  has  always  been  a  favorite  idea 
with  us  that  a  church  is  not  a  loose  aggrega- 
tion of  stones,  however  large  or  lofty,  but  a 
solid  cemented  structure,  standing  four-square 
to  all  the  winds  of  heaven.  To  build  such  a 
structure  requires  the  patient  handling  of 
every  individual  stone  that  goes  into  the  wall. 
Personal  contact  wilA  souls,  personal  effort 
/or  souls,  is  the  only  secret  of  spiritual  suc- 
cess. As  far  as  the  minister  is  concerned,  this 
demands  the  most  constant,  unintermitted  pas- 
toral labor.  My  own  established  rule  has  been, 
first,  to  try  to  know  everybody  in  the  congre- 
gation ;  and  secondly,  never  to  allow  a  single 
day  to  pass  without  more  or  less  personal  visi- 
tation. The  Bible  and  books  in  the  morning 
and  door-plates  in  the  afternoon,  make  a  good 
curriculum  for  a  pastor's  day.  To  carry  out 
thoroughly  a  system  of  personal  oversight — to 
visit  every  household,  to  stand  by  every  sick 
and  dying  bed,  to  put  one's  self  into  sympathy 
with  every  troubled  brain  and  aching  heart,  is 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  4I 

a  process  that  strains  the  nerves  and  swallows 
up  the  time.  I  discovered  long  ago  that  I 
could  not  delve  deeply  in  the  mines  of  pro- 
found scholarship  or  roam  in  the  fields  of  ele- 
gant literature  (much  as  I  love  it),  and  yet  be 
a  faithful  pastor  too.  So  I  made  my  choice, 
and  I  think  that  eternity  will  show  that  I 
"  chose  the  better  part."  Perhaps  one  reason 
why  the  spiritual  walls  of  Lafayette  Avenue 
Church  have  stood  firm  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury amid  all  the  shiftings  of  population  and 
surgings  of  sensationalism,  is  this — that  the 
wall  has  been  built  ''  by  the  dayT 

Then,  too,  in  the  next  place,  the  ''people 
have  had  a  mind  to  work."  Not  everybody, 
of  course  ;  for  there  are  drones  in  everv  hive. 
But  a  vast  amount  of  systematic,  honest,  ef- 
fective labor  for  Christ  and  for  the  welfare  of 
this  city  has  been  wrought  by  the  members  of 
this  church.  We  have  furnished  many  of  the 
most  active  propellers  of  City  Missions  and 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the 
Children's  Aid  Society,  the  Brooklyn  Asy- 
lums, Nurseries,  and  charitable  "  Homes,"  and 


42  HISTORY   OF  THE 

scores  of  other  beneficent  institutions.  In  the 
cause  of  Temperance,  in  the  promotion  of 
Home  and  Foreign  Missions,  and  in  benevo- 
lent agencies  for  the  poor  and  neglected,  the 
women  of  the  flock  have  wrought  untiringly. 
The  principle  of  entrusting  all  the  devotional 
meetings  in  the  church  to  the  management  of 
our  officers  and  members  (instead  of  being  as- 
sumed by  the  pastor)  has  tended  to  develop 
personal  piety  and  personal  activity. 

The  two  strong  arms  of  the  church  have 
always  been  its  Sabbath-school  and  its  Young 
People's  Association.  Our  Sabbath-school  is 
under  great  obligations  to  Mr.  Joseph  Fahys 
for  the  enlargement  of  its  hall,  and  to  the  ven- 
erable Mr.  Thomas  Harward  for  the  endow- 
ment of  its  library.  During  these  twenty-five 
years  over  5,000  children  and  youth  have  been 
enrolled  in  its  classes,  and  of  this  number  606 
have  been  received  into  membership  with  this 
church  alone  (from  the  school),  on  confession 
of  their  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  Never  has  the 
spiritual  pulse  of  that  school  beat  more 
strongly  than   it  beats  to-day ;   never  has  it 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  43 

been  more  richly  blessed.  And  I  should  do 
violence  to  your  feelings  as  well  as  to  my  own, 
if  I  failed  to  acknowledge  the  debt  of  gratitude 
we  owe  and  which  only  eternity  can  repay 
to  its  beloved  Superintendent,  Daniel  W. 
McWilliams. 

If  I  have  been  reinforced  on  the  one  side 
by  the  noble  corps  of  Sunday-school  teachers, 
I  have  been  equally  seconded  on  the  other 
hand  by  the  Young  People's  Association. 
This  has  been  our  "  Light  Brigade  " — armed 
with  Bible-weapons,  and  organized  for  the 
work  of  winning  souls,  and  developing  be- 
ginners in  the  Christian  life.  Their  training- 
school  is  the  Monday  evening  meeting,  which 
has  never  been  omitted  except  for  a  few 
weeks  during  twenty-four  years.  Several 
similar  associations  in  this  country  have  been 
modelled  after  it.  Upon  its  muster-roll  have 
been  over  2,000  names.  Of  this  number  ten 
have  entered  the  sacred  ministry,  and  one  of 
them  is  bearing  nobly  the  banner  of  the  Cross 
in  China.  As  we  make  our  annual  contribu- 
tion to-day  to  our  *'  Olivet  Mission,"  let  me 


44  HISTORY    OF  THE 

gratefully  record  the  good  work  wrought  there 
during  the  last  thirteen  years.  If  their  field 
is  not  large,  it  has  been  thoroughly  tilled  and 
has  yielded  a  rich  harvest. 

To  tabulate  the  results  of  the  past  five-and- 
twenty  years  is  not  easy ;  for  the  deepest  and 
the  most  enduring  part  of  all  labors  for  immortal 
souls  will  only  be  unfolded  when  the  ''books 
are  opened "  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ.  The  following  figures  tell  a  part  of 
the  story  :  During  my  present  pastorate  I 
have  preached  to  you  about  2,300  discourses, 
and  have  delivered  over  1,000  public  addresses 
in  behalf  of  the  temperance  reform  and  of 
Sabbath-schools,  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociations and  kindred  enterprises  for  human 
welfare.  I  have  officiated  at  570  marriages, 
and  baptized  802  children.  The  total  num- 
ber received  into  the  membership  of  this 
church  during  this  time  has  been  3,610.  Of 
this  number  1,566  have  united  by  confession 
of  their  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  number 
of  members  now  on  our  church  register  is 
2,012.     Of  these  a  considerable  number  are 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  45 

non-resident,  but  have  never  asked  for  formal 
dismissions  to  other  churches. 

O  my  beloved  people,  how  you  have  sweet- 
ened these  years  with  words  and  deeds  of  un- 
faltering affection,  and  with  kind  forbearance 
towards  my  impulsive  infirmities  !  Never  have 
you  wounded  me  with  a  single  sharp  syllable, 
and  never  have  you  tried  to  padlock  my  lips 
from  uttering  the  fullest  convictions  of  my 
conscience.  My  poorest  sermons  you  have 
forgiven  ;  the  best  you  have  not  forgotten. 
You  knew  that  I  loved  you,  and  "  love  en- 
dureth  all  things."  There  are  hundreds  in 
this  congregation  who  have  grown  up  here 
from  infancy,  and  never  knew  any  other 
spiritual  home.  Into  your  dwellings  you  have 
welcomed  me  when  the  wedding-torch  was 
lighted ;  and  often  when  the  candle  was  gone 
out,  and  the  atmosphere  was  shadowed  by  the 
death-angel's  wing,  when  the  cradle  had  given 
place  to  the  coffin,  or  the  arm-chairs  of  dear 
old  father  and  mother  became  empty,  then  we 
went  into  the  cloud  together  and  sought  to 
see   ''  no  man  save  Jesus  only."     If    I    have 


46  HISTORY   OF  THE 

gone  to  you  in  times  of  trouble,  so  have  you 
come  to  me.  When  once,  and  again,  and  yet 
again,  our  Heavenly  Father  "smote  the  four 
corners  of  my  house "  with  bitter  bereave- 
ments, your  sympathy  was  inexpressibly  sweet 
to  aching  hearts ;  it  has  kept  the  roses  bloom- 
ing above  the  mould. 

Verily,  verily,  God  might  have  given  you  a 
hundred  abler  and  more  cultured  ministers, 
but  God  never  gave  to  any  minister  a  kinder, 
truer,  nobler  flock.  **The  Lord  recompense 
your  works  of  love,  and  a  full  reward  be  given 
you  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  under  whose 
wings  we  have  come  to  trust ! " 

Such  is  a  very  brief  review  of  the  past  quar- 
ter of  a  century  in  which  we  have  been  build- 
ing church  walls  together — ''  the  people  hav- 
ing a  mind  to  work."  A  fuller  history  will 
ere  long  be  prepared  for  preservation.  But 
suffer  me,  dear  friends,  before  I  close,  to  al- 
lude to  a  few  personalities  which  the  familiar 
freedom  of  this  happy  hour  may  redeem  from 
the  imputation  of  immodesty. 

To-day  completes  forty  years  of  my  public 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  47 

ministry.  As  I  remember  all  the  way  which 
the  Lord  our  God  hath  led  me  through  these 
forty  years,  I  am  ready  to  exclaim,  "  Bless  the 
Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  His  bene- 
fits ! "  What  have  these  been  ?  First  of  all  I 
thank  Him  for  a  godly  parentage  ;  and  that 
the  earliest  link  in  love's  warm  chain  is  yet 
unbroken  by  the  lapse  of  fourscore  years  and 
three.  Heaven  bless  all  faithful  mothers ! 
Secondly,  I  rejoice  that  a  peculiar  providence 
turned  my  footsteps  away  from  the  profession 
of  my  immediate  ancestors  into  the  ministry 
of  salvation.  No  throne  was  ever  built  that 
comes  within  ten  leagues  of  the  pulpit  which 
lifts  up  Christ  crucified.  In  preparing  for  ray 
life-work  I  count  it  a  sovereign  mercy  that  I 
spent  my  student-days  in  Princeton,  at  a  time 
when  the  splendid  scientific  fame  of  Joseph 
Henry  hung  over  the  college  like  a  radiant 
star,  and  when  the  Theological  Seminary  was 
under  the  guidance  of  those  two  wise  masters 
of  divinity,  Archibald  Alexander  and  Charles 
Hodge  (whose  honored  son  and  heir  sits  now 
beside  me).     Both  those  mighty  men  being 


48  HISTORY  OF  THE 

dead,  yet  speak  from  a  thousand  pulpits  in 
the  logical  forms  of  the  truths  they  taught  us. 
If  their  theology  is  old,  so  is  the  law  that 
guides  "Arcturus  with  its  suns,"  so  is  the 
granite  that  underlies  the  continents.  None 
but  a  theology  that  came  out  of  eternity  can 
carry  you  and  me  safely  through  eternity ! 

Another  personal  mercy  I  would  gratefully 
acknowledge  has  been  the  enjoyment  of  un- 
broken health.  In  forty  years  I  have  never 
lost  but  two  Sabbaths  from  sickness,  and  then 
the  ailment  was  but  for  a  few  hours.  If  any 
minister  who  believes  in  using  wines  or  alco- 
holics for  "  his  stomach's  sake,"  can  show  a 
cleaner  bill  of  health,  he  is  welcome  to  pro- 
duce it.  One  hour  of  sleep  is  worth  a  gross 
of  tonics.  I  have  always  held  that  the  only 
two  bodily  functions  a  pastor  needs  are  lungs 
and  legs — the  functions  to  talk  with  on  Sun- 
day and  to  walk  with  during  the  week  from 
house  to  house.  In  your  pastor's  case,  the 
talking  and  the  walking  have  been  "  renewed 
day  by  day." 

There  is  still  another  sweet  mercy  which  I 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  49 

fear  that  Paul  himself  did  not  possess,  and 
which  has  been  vouchsafed  to  me  in  that  true 
heart  that  has  never  faltered,  and  that  gentle 
footstep  that  has  never  wearied  in  the  path- 
way of  love  for  two  and  thirty  years.  From 
how  many  mistakes  and  hasty  indiscretions 
her  quick  sagacity  has  kept  me,  you  can  never 
know.  If  you  have  any  tribute  of  thanks  for 
any  good  which  I  have  done  you,  do  not  offer 
it  to  me ;  carry  it  down  to  yonder  home,  of 
which  she  has  been  the  light  and  the  joy,  and 
lay  it  at  her  unselfish  feet. 

Have  all  the  labors  of  a  busy  life  been  lim- 
ited to  the  pulpit  and  the  platform  ?  No.  I 
have  sought  a  thousand-fold  wider  congrega- 
tion through  the  press.  A  consecrated  type 
may  be  as  useful  as  a  consecrated  tongue.  Ac- 
cordingly I  have  always  made  it  a  rule  never 
to  allow  a  week  to  pass  without  contributing 
at  least  one  article  to  some  leading  religious 
journal.  These  articles  have  been  mainly 
drawn  from  personal  experience,  and  aimed  at 
the  average  popular  mind.  Of  these  I  have 
published  about  twenty-seven  hundred  ;  many 
3 


50  HISTORY  OF  THE 

have  been  reprinted  across  the  ocean  (one 
press  in  London  alone  has  reissued  over  ten 
millions  of  copies),  and  many  have  been  trans- 
lated into  various  languages  and  come  back  to 
me  in  unknown  tongues.  At  a  rough  estimate, 
over  one  hundred  millions  of  copies  of  them 
have  been  printed  and  scattered  around  the 
globe.  I  have  prepared  about  fifty  tracts  for 
the  National  Temperance  Society,  the  Ameri- 
can Tract  Society,  and  the  Presbyterian  Board 
of  Publication.  Of  the  ten  volumes  which  I 
have  published,  two  have  trickled  from  my 
pen  in  tears — one  when  a  little  crib  was  emp- 
tied, and  the  other  when  a  lovely  face  and  a 
lovelier  character  had  vanished  from  our  home, 
leaving  an  aching  void  that  never,  never  can 
be  filled.  If  these  modest  books  have  guided 
some  souls  to  Jesus,  if  they  have  brought  com- 
fort to  the  sorrowing,  relief  to  the  over-loaded, 
or  new  strength  to  the  feeble  and  the  faint, 
then  has  my  labor  of  love  found  its  best  re- 
ward. 

Such,  my  fellow-workers,  has  been  my  man- 
ner of  life  during  these  eventful  forty  years. 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  51 

Amid  the  magnificent  marchings  of  human 
progress,  what  are  the  poor  scratchings  of  a 
single  pen,  or  the  feeble  utterances  of  a  single 
tongue  ?  Nothing  !  nothing,  except  to  show 
that  God  can  use  the  weak  things  as  well  as 
the  mighty  in  His  blessed  service.  To-day 
your  pastor  stands  at  a  very  solemn  juncture 
in  his  journey.  A  quarter  of  a  century  ended 
in  this  pulpit,  and  forty  years  of  a  public  min- 
istry concluded,  all  remind  me  that  more  of 
my  life  lies  behind  me  than  is  yet  untrodden. 
How  much  water  there  may  be  left  in  that  in- 
visible cistern  of  life  from  which  we  draw  each 
day,  and  can  not  stop  drawing,  God  only 
knows.  This  do  I  know  full  well,  that  the 
water  is  running  low.  I  only  ask  that  the 
unseen  fountain  may  be  kept  sweet  and  pure 
by  the  grace  of  Christ  Jesus.  I  only  ask  to 
live  just  as  long  as  God  has  any  work  for  me 
to  do,  and  not  one  day — no  !  not  one  moment 
— longer.  I  only  ask  that  among  the  last  ob- 
jects which  my  failing  vision  shall  behold  may 
be  yonder  spire  that  salutes  the  rising  sun, 
and  pilots  us  to  our   Sabbath-home !      And 


52  HISTORY   OF  THE 

when  the  day's  work  for  Christ  is  over,  give 
me  a  narrow  bed  among  the  people  whom  I 
love  out  in  yonder  Greenwood,  city  of  the 
sleepers,  and  let  me  help  to  "  break  ground  " 
for  them  on  the  resurrection  morn.  All  hail 
that  seraphic  Easter-dawn  !  Amid  its  tran- 
scendent wonders,  no  eye  shall  turn  to  seek 
for  pastor  or  parent,  for  prophet  or  priest,  for 
the  great  Psalmist  with  his  harp  of  praise,  or 
the  great  Apostle  with  his  tongue  of  flame  ; 
we  shall  all  see  ''no  man  save  Jesus  only  !" 
The  brow  that  crimsoned  with  the  crown  of 
thorns  shall  then  be  lustrous  with  the  diadem 
of  an  imperial  glory.  As  here  on  earth  we 
were  determined  to  know  nothing  save  Jesus 
and  Him  crucified,  there  we  shall  rejoice  to 
know  nothing  and  no  one  save  Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  glorified ! 

After  the  discourse — which  was  listened  to  with 
deep  attention — Doctor  Hodge  offered  a  fervent 
prayer  of  thanksgiving  ;  and  the  whole  assembly 
arose  and  joined  in  singing  the  familiar  hymn  : 

"  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 
Our  hearts  in  Christian  love, 
The  fellowship  of  kindred  minds 
Is  like  to  that  above." 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  53 


SABBATH-SCHOOL   SERVICES. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  Sabbath- 
schools  connected  with  the  church  and  with  Olivet 
Mission  Chapel  held  their  Jubilee  services  ;  and  the 
Lafayette  Avenue  edifice  was  again  thronged  to  the 
doors.  The  young  people,  with  the  children  of  the 
"  infant  department,"  sang  the  various  hymns  and 
joined  in  the  responsive  exercises  with  great  enthu- 
siasm. Mr.  Horace  B.  Griffing  made  the  opening 
prayer  and  Mr.  Daniel  W.  McWilliams  delivered  the 
following  introductory  address. 

Invocation — H,  B.  Griffing,  Superintendent 
Olivet  Mission. 

Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  we  invoke 
Thy  presence  and  Thy  blessing  upon  this  oc- 
casion, of  such  great  interest  to  the  pastor 
and  people  of  this  church.  Thou  art  a  cove- 
nant-keeping God,  ever  showing  mercy  to 
those  with  their  whole  heart  in  Thy  fear  and 
in  Thy  love.  The  Heaven  of  Heavens  can 
not  contain  Thee,  yet  we  praise  Thy  name 
that  Thou  dost  delight  to  dwell  in  the  hearts 


54  HISTORY   OF  THE 

of  those  that  love  Thee.  We  are  here  to-day, 
not  to  glorify  man,  but  to  glorify  Thee,  who 
hast  given  such  power  to  men  that  they  may 
be  co-workers  with  Thee.  We  come  to  com- 
mend Thy  blessing  upon  each  and  all,  as  we 
are  gathered  here  together  upon  this  interest- 
ing occasion,  in  honor  of  one  whom  we  de- 
light to  call  our  pastor.  Unite  all  this  people 
in  holy  bonds.  And  v/e  thank  Thee  for  the 
influence  and  teaching  which  has  brought 
glorious  fruits  for  Thee,  and  we  are  gathered 
here  to-day  as  parents  and  children  and  chil- 
dren's children,  to  do  honor  and  to  show  our 
love  and  our  appreciation  of  Thy  glorious 
work  in  the  history  of  this  church.  We  come 
to  Thee  with  our  hearts  full  of  praise  and 
thanksgiving  for  all  Thy  mercies  to  us  dur- 
ing these  twenty-five  years  of  earnest  work 
and  earnest  labor  for  Thee.  W^e  do  thank 
Thee  that  Thou  hast  enabled  him  who  is 
our  pastor  to  sow  and  to  reap,  and  to  pre- 
pare and  build  for  eternity.  We  thank 
Thee  to-day  from  our  hearts  for  the  mother 
of   this   son,   who   was  early   consecrated   to 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  55 

Thee  and  to  the  ministry  of  Thy  Word,  and 
we  pray  Thee  that  Thy  richest  and  choicest 
blessings  may  rest  upon  her.  We  do  thank 
Thee  for  the  work  she  has  done  during 
these  fourscore  years  in  helping  others  to 
prepare  to  proclaim  Thy  Word  and  in  giving 
the  Word  of  God  to  those  earnestly  laboring 
in  Thy  ministry  among  the  people  ;  and  we 
do  praise  Thee  to-day  for  our  pastor  and  all  of 
his  faithfulness  to  us  during  these  twenty-five 
years  of  earnest  labor  and  of  faithful  service 
to  Thee  and  to  us.  We  do  pray  Thee,  dear 
Father  in  Heaven,  that  we  may  get  inspira- 
tion on  this  occasion  that  shall  go  with  us 
many  days  and  strengthen  us  for  earnest  labor 
and  earnest  service  for  Thee.  We  come  to 
Thee  and  ask  Thy  blessing  upon  each  one  of 
us,  upon  parents,  children,  and  children's  chil- 
dren. We  come  to  ask  Thee  to  bless  those 
who  are  teachers  in  the  great  work  of  the 
Sabbath-school,  to  ask  Thee  to  bless  those 
who  are  scholars  and  to  bless  all  those  en- 
gaged in  the  work.  We  ask  Thy  blessing 
upon  those  who  have  come  here  to-day  to 


56  HISTORY   OF   THE 

speak  to  us.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  encour- 
agement we  have  heard  from  their  lips,  en- 
couragement to  labor,  and  pray,  and  to  do  for 
Thee ;  and  we  pray  Thee  to  bless  the  Word 
as  it  is  spoken  from  their  lips  this  afternoon. 
We  do  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  given  us 
so  richly  of  Thy  blessing  during  all  these 
years,  and  that  there  are  so  many  that  can 
raise  their  Ebenezer  stone  to-day  and  say 
from  their  hearts,  "  Hallelujah,  Thine  is  the 
praise,"  and  who  can  rejoice  when  they  think 
of  the  time  when  they  heard  from  the  lips  of 
him  who  speaks  the  Word  in  this  pulpit, 
words  of  consolation  and  of  truth.  We  thank 
Thee  for  the  Gospel.  We  thank  Thee  for 
the  consolation  proclaimed  there  through  Je- 
sus Christ,  our  Lord.  We  do  pray  that  all 
the  exercises  of  this  afternoon  may  be  to  Thy 
glory  and  to  our  good.  God  bless  us  abun- 
dantly, more  abundantly  than  we  can  ask. 
We  ask  this  all  in  the  name  and  for  the  sake 
of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Saviour. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  $7 

Scripture  Readings, — A//  standing, 

Sup't.  Praise  ye  the  Lord.  Praise  ye  the  name  of  the 
Lord ;  praise  Him,  O  ye  servants  of  the  Lord. 

Schools.  Ye  that  stand  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  in  the 
courts  of  the  house  of  our  God. 

Sup't.  Praise  the  Lord ;  for  the  Lord  is  good :  sing 
praises  unto  his  name ;  for  it  is  pleasant. 

Schools.  Both  young  men,  and  maidens ;  old  men,  and 
children : 

Sup't.  Let  them  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord :  for  his 
name  alone  is  excellent ;  his  glory  is  above  the  earth  and 
heaven. 

Schools.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord, 
and  to  sing  praises  unto  thy  name,  O  Most  High : 

Sup't.  Praise  the  Lord,  O  Jerusalem ;  praise  thy  God,  O 
Zion. 

Schools.  For  he  hath  strengthened  the  bars  of  thy  gates  ; 
he  hath  blessed  thy  children  within  thee. 

Sup't.  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  from  everlasting  to 
everlasting  upon  them  that  fear  him,  and  his  righteous- 
ness unto  children's  children. 

Schools.  To  such  as  keep  his  covenant,  and  to  those  that 
remember  his  commandments  to  do  them. 

Sup't.  Bless  ye  the  Lord,  all  ye  his  hosts ;  ye  ministers  of 
his,  that  do  his  pleasure. 

Schools.  Bless  the  Lord,  all  his  works  in  all  places  of  his 
dominion :  bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul. 

All.  Let  every  thing  that  hath  breath  praise  the  Lord. 
Praise  ye  the  Lord. 

-7* 


58 


HISTORY   OF  THE 


Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow 
Praise  Him,  all  creatures  here  below ; 
Praise  Him  above,  ye  heavenly  host : 
Praise  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 


RESPONSIVE. 


Voices  of  the  Old. 

Arise,  shine  ;  for  thy  light 
is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  is  risen  upon  thee. 

— Isa.  60: 1. 

And  the  ransomed  of  the 
Lord  shall  return,  and  come 
to  Zion  with  songs  and  ever- 
lasting joy  upon  their  heads. 
— Isa,  35  :  10. 

Joy  and  gladness  shall  be 
found  therein,  thanksgiving, 
and  the  voice  of  melody. 

—Isa.  51 :  3. 

Thou  shalt  call  thy  walls 
Salvation,  and  thy  gates 
Praise.  — Isa.  12:3. 


Echoes  of  the  New. 

Let  your  light  so  shine  be- 
fore men,  that  they  may  see 
your  good  works,  and  glori- 
fy your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven.  — Matt.  5:16. 

Ye  are  come  unto  Mount 
Sion,  and  unto  the  city  of 
the  living  God,  the  heaven- 
ly Jerusalem,  and  to  an  in- 
numerable company  of  an- 
gels. — Heb.  12  :  22. 

And  to  know  the  love  of 
Christ,  which  passeth  knowl- 
edge, that  ye  might  be  filled 
with  all  the  fullness  of  God. 
—Eph.  3:19. 

For  I  am  not  ashamed  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ :  for  it 
is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth.  — Rom.  i :  16 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH. 


59 


Therefore  with  joy  shall        In  the  last  day,  that  great 

ye  draw  water  out  of   the    day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  stood 

wells  of  salvation.  and  cried,  saying,  If  any  man 

— Isa.  60 :  i8.    thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me, 

and  drink.         — John  7  :  37. 

The  lines  are  fallen  unto        Blessed  be  the  God  and 

me  in  pleasant  places ;  yea,     Father  of   our   Lord    Jesus 

I  have  a  goodly  heritage.  Christ,  who  hath  blessed  us 

— Psa.  16:6.    with  all  spiritual  blessings  in 

heavenly  places  in  Christ. 

—Eph.  1 : 3. 


And  all  thy  children  shall 
be  taught  of  the  Lord  ;  and 
great  shall  be  the  peace  of 
thy  children.     — Isa.  54:  13. 

That  our  sons  may  be  as 
plants  grown  up  in  their 
youth;  that  our  daughters 
may  be  as  corner-stones  pol- 
ished after  the  similitude  of 
a  palace.  —Psa.  144: 12. 


And  if  children,  then 
heirs ;  heirs  of  God,  and 
joint  heirs  with  Christ. 

— Rom.  8: 17. 

And  will  be  a  Father  unto 
you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons 
and  daughters,  saith  the 
Lord  Almighty. 

—2  Cor.dwZ. 


He  shall  feed  his  flock  like        I  am  the  good  shepherd, 

a  shepherd  :  he  shall  gather    and  know  my  sheep,  and  am 

the  lambs  with  his  arm,  and    known    of    mine.     And    he 

carry  them  in  his  bosom.  took  them  up  in  his  arms, 

— /$•«.  40:11.    put  his  hands  upon  them, 

and  blessed  them. 

— Mark  10  :  16. 


6o 


HISTORY   OF  THE 


Thou   wilt   keep   him    in 

perfect  peace,  whose  mind  is 

stayed  on  thee ;  because  he 

trusteth  in  thee. 

— Isa.  26 : 3. 

Oh  how  great  is  thy  good- 
ness, which  thou  hast  laid 
up  for  them  that  fear  thee ; 
which  thou  hast  wrought  for 
them  that  trust  in  thee  be- 
fore the  sons  of  men. 

— Psa,  31 :  19. 

What  shall  I  render  unto 

the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits 

towards  me  ? 

— Psa.  116:12. 


Ho,  every  one  that  thirst- 
eth,  come  ye  to  the  waters, 
and  he  that  hath  no  money  ; 
come  ye,  buy,  and  eat;  yea, 
come,  buy  wine  and  milk 
without  money  and  without 
price.  — Isa.  55  :  i. 


Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my 
peace  I  give  unto  you :  not 
as  the  world  giveth,  give  1 
unto  you.         — John  14 ;  27. 

But  as  it  is  written,  Eye 
hath  not  seen  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man  the  things 
which  God  hath  prepared  for 
them  that  love  him. 

— I  Cor.  2 :  9. 

Go  home  to  thy  friends, 
and  tell  them  how  great 
things  the  Lord  hath  done 
for  thee,  and  hath  had  com- 
passion on  thee. 

— Mark  5  :  19. 

And  the  Spirit  and  the 
bride  say,  Come.  And  let 
him  that  heareth  say.  Come. 
And  let  him  that  is  athirst 
come.  And  whosoever  will, 
let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely.  — Rev.  22  :  17. 


Hymn — "  Wonderful  Words  of  Life." 
Sing  them  over  again  to  me, 

Wonderful  words  of  Life, 
Let  me  more  of  their  beauty  see, 

Wonderful  words  of  Life. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  6 1 

Words  of  life  and  beauty, 
Teach  me  faith  and  duty  ; 

Beautiful  words,  wonderful  words, 
Wonderful  words  of  Life. 

Sweetly  echo  the  gospel  call, 

Wonderful  words  of  Life, 
Offer  pardon  and  peace  to  all, 

Wonderful  words  of  Life. 
Jesus,  only  Saviour, 
Sanctify  forever. 

Beautiful  words,  wonderful  words. 
Wonderful  words  of  Life. 

Pastor.  I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  my  God  :  yea,  thy 
law  is  within  my  heart. 

I  have  preached  righteousness  in  the  great  congregation  : 
lo,  I  have  not  refrained  my  lips,  O  Lord,  thou  knowest. 

I  have  not  hid  thy  righteousness  within  my  heart ;  I 
have  declared  thy  faithfulness. 

For  I  determined  not  to  know  anything  among  you,  save 
Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified. 

For  what  is  our  hope,  our  joy,  or  crown  of  rejoicing? 
Are  not  even  ye  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
at  his  coming  ? 

For  ye  are  our  glory  and  joy. 

Schools  {rising).  How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are 
the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good  tidings,  that  publisheth 
peace  ;  that  bringeth  good  tidings  of  good,  that  publisheth 
salvation  ;  that  saith  unto  Zion,  Thy  God  reigneth  ! 

Infant  Class.    The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee : 


62  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Schools.  The  Lord  make  his  face  shine  upon  thee,  and 
be  gracious  unto  thee  : 

Olivet  School.  The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon 
thee,  and  give  thee  peace. 

All.  Blessing,  and  glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving, 
and  honor,  and  power,  and  might,  be  unto  our  God  for  ever 
and  ever.    Amen. 

Hymn, —  The  Children's  Greeting. — A.  W.  K. 

Greetings  now  we  bring  thee. 

On  this  Easter  day, 
Day  of  joy  and  gladness. 

Brightening  all  the  way  ; 
Day  of  Christ  triumphant. 

In  whose  name  ye  stand, 
In  whose  name  are  gathered 

This  loyal,  household  band. 

Chorus. — Greetings  now  we  bring  thee, 
On  this  Easter  day, 
Day  of  joy  and  gladness. 
Brightening  all  the  way. 

We,  the  children's  children. 

Gladly  raise  this  song, 
Praying  God  in  mercy 

That  thy  days  prolong  ; 
Praying  Him  to  grant  thee, 

When  thy  crown  is  won. 
Jewels  of  His  setting — 

Welcome  words,  "  well  done." 
Cho. — Greetings  now  we  bring  thee. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  63 

We  the  children's  children, 

For  thy  welfare  pray  ; 
Ours  to  reap  the  harvest, 

Sown  along  the  way ; 
God  give  faith  and  wisdom, 

Plenitude  of  grace, 
To  keep  unquenched  the  fire 

Kindled  in  this  place. 
Cho. — Greetings  now  we  bring  thee. 

Courage,  faithful  Pastor ! 

Though  the  years  have  sped. 
Though  a  host  of  loved  ones 

From  thy  side  have  fled, 
Not  in  vain  the  labor 

Of  these  years  shall  be, 
God  himself  keeps  record 

In  e-ter-ni-ty. 
Cho.— Greetings  now  we  bring  thee. 

Introductory  Address. 

D,  W,  Mc  Williams,  Suft  Church  School, 

It  is  a  new  thing  for  these  two  Sabbath- 
schools  to  displace  the  Bible  lesson  and  during 
this  hour  to  have  services  of  another  character. 
These  are  unusual  arrangements  for  us  to-day. 
Olivet  Mission  is  with  us,  for  the  first  time  in 


64  HISTORY  OF  THE 

many  years.  '*  They  of  the  land  of  Sinim," 
as  the  prophet  Isaiah  calls  them,  take  part 
with  us  in  this  joyful  service.  We  may  say 
that  the  loving  heart  of  our  pastor  has  reached 
down  into  the  very  nurseries  of  the  congrega- 
tion and  has  brought  before  us  the  infant  class. 
Two  of  the  busiest  men  on  this  continent,  on 
whom  are  depending  some  of  the  most  inter- 
esting fields,  Mr.  Ralph  Wells  and  Mr.  John 
Wanamaker,  have  come  and  signify  by  their 
presence  the  importance  of  this  occasion. 

Lafayette  Avenue  Church  might  have  had 
a  pastor  whose  twenty-fifth  anniversary  could 
have  been  celebrated  without  any  special  ser- 
vice of  its  Sabbath-schools ;  but  such  is  not 
our  case,  for  surely  there  is  no  man  who  has 
more  power  to  reach  the  family  and  the  home 
than  has  our  devoted  and  beloved  pastor.  And 
we  render  to-day  a  heart  service  of  thanksgiv- 
ing and  praise  to  Almighty  God  for  the  dear 
pastor  whom  He  has  given  this  church  during 
the  last  twenty-five  years. 

Think  for  a  moment  what  are  clustered 
here   to-day.      This   is   a    family    gathering. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  6$ 

What  is  t\i^  family  ?  It  is  the  oldest  institu- 
tion in  the  world  ;  it  is  the  foundation  of  so- 
ciety. And  what  came  next  in  the  order  of 
time  ?  After  the  family,  the  holy  Sabbath  was 
instituted.  And  what  came  next?  The  altar 
of  worship  and  for  sacrifice,  with  the  head  of 
the  household  as  the  priestly  intercessor.  And 
what  came  next?  The  Word  of  God,  revealed 
to  men.  The  altar  by  and  by  became  the  tab- 
ernacle in  the  wilderness,  around  which  all  the 
families  encamped ;  and  then  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  to  which  all  the  families  came  up 
for  sacrifice  and  worship.  The  family ;  the 
Sabbath  ;  the  altar ;  the  Word  of  God ;  and 
these  Divine  institutions  meet  this  Christian 
pastor  in  this  service  to-day.  Verily,  verily, 
it  is  an  appropriate  service  for  this  Easter. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  the  hearts'  desire  of 
the  people  residing  on  this  hill  might  have 
been  expressed  in  four  lines  with  which  the 
saintly  McCheyne  pictured  grand  old  Scotland : 

"  Give  us  the  man  of  God,  the  truth  to  preach. 
The  house  of  God  within  convenient  reach, 
Give  these,  then  give  the  Spirit's  gentle  shower, 
And  oft  our  garden  will  be  all  in  flower." 


66  HISTORY  OF  THE 

That  Easter  morning,  twenty-five  years  ago, 
the  man  of  God  came  ;  and  that  picture  be- 
gan to  be  fulfilled.  We  know  that  he  came 
to  preach  the  truth.  Why,  if  any  one  said 
that  Dr.  Cuyler  did  not  preach  the  truth  no 
one  would  believe  him.  Every  one  knows  it 
would  be  out  of  character  for  him  to  preach 
anything  else.  He  came  to  preach  the  truth  ; 
then  what  next?  Then  "the  house  of  God 
within  convenient  reach."  And  just  as  surely 
as  these  walls  are  built  of  stone  and  brick  and 
mortar,  so  true  is  it  that  this  spiritual  church 
is  built  out  of  the  brain  and  heart  of  our  lov- 
ing pastor.  A  Boston  pastor  said  once  to 
another  minister  :  *'  Brooklyn  would  be  a  para- 
dise for  ministers  if  it  were  not  for  Dr.  Cuy- 
ler." We  all  understand  what  he  meant.  A 
New  York  pastor  said  to  a  Brooklyn  man, 
''Who  is  your  pastor?"  "Dr.  Cuyler,"  was 
the  reply.  "Ah,  Dr.  Cuyler,  he  has  a  very 
long  arm."  We  know  what  he  meant.  "A 
long  arm  ?  "  Yes,  a  very  long  arm  that  touches 
human  hearts,  extends  into  the  home  and 
reaches   all   over  this   continent.     Here  is  a 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  6/ 

letter  received  day  before  yesterday  from  a 
personal  friend.  It  is  only  one  instance  out 
of  perhaps  thousands ;  because  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  our  Master  will  ever  reveal  to  Dr. 
Cuyler  all  the  good  he  has  done.  No  mortal 
man  could  stand  such  revelation.  Here  is  a 
letter  from  a  lady  residing  some  distance  from 
here.  One  day  a  sorrow  came  to  her  house- 
hold such  as  seldom  comes  to  a  family,  and 
her  home  was  desolate.  Her  husband,  a 
prominent  man  in  the  community,  had  lost  his 
reason  and  had  sent  her  a  letter  from  a  distant 
place,  that  he  would  never  return  and  that  she 
should  forget  him.  It  seemed  to  her  that  her 
reason  would  reel.  But  there  was  a  weekly 
visitor,  the  religious  paper,  which  came  into 
the  household.  The  3d  of  July,  1884,  is  the 
date  of  the  paper,  and  this  is  the  article  : 
"  Watt  andSeCy  by  Rev.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler." 
"Wait  and  see,"  she  said.  "That  is  God's 
word  to  me.  God  bless  the  man."  Her  faith 
took  hold  within  the  veil,  and  she  said,  "  I 
will  wait  and  see  ;  my  Heavenly  Father  must 
have  something  good  for  me."     That  article 


68  HISTORY   OF  THE 

held  and  fastened  her  to  the  throne.  She 
waited  for  months,  and  saw  one  morning  the 
husband  and  father  coming  back  to  the  re- 
united household.  This  is  what  she  writes  : 
*'  If  all  whom  Dr.  Cuyler  has  blessed  and 
benefited  could  be  with  you  on  Easter  day, 
it  would  be  more  than  mortal  man  could 
stand."  From  the  nature  of  the  case,  this 
must  be  true. 

But  I  must  be  brief,  as  this  is  a  mere  intro- 
ductory address. 

These  twenty-five  years  have  produced  rich 
fruit  in  the  Sabbath-schools  as  well  as  in  the 
church.  Many  have  been  brought  to  Christ. 
Many  have  developed  into  useful  and  matured 
Christian  workers.  In  seeking  to  save  others 
Dr.  Cuyler  has  not  spared  himself.  He  has 
put  his  whole  heart  into  the  work  of  winning 
other  hearts  to  Jesus.  We  have  had  in  Dr. 
Cuyler  an  earnest,  faithful  preacher  and  ex- 
pounder of  the  truth,  a  most  devoted  and  un- 
tiring pastor,  a  wise  counsellor,  a  safe  guide, 
a  loving  friend,  and  a  most  tender  and  sympa- 
thetic consoler  in  time  of  sorrow  and  bereave- 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  69 

ment, — a  man  who  has  illustrated  practical 
piety  in  this  community  by  his  life  as  well  as 
oy  his  words.  And  now  it  seems  to  me  that 
in  the  words  of  holy  writ  scholars  and  con- 
gregation want  to  present  their  salutations  to 
our  dear  pastor.    The  schools  will  please  arise. 

Salutations  to  the  Pastor. 

Suft.    The  brethren  which  are  with  me,  greet  you. 

Schools.    Mercy  unto  you,  and  peace,  be  multiplied. 

Sup't.     The  whole  church  saluteth  you. 

Schools  and  Congregation.  Grace  be  with  you ;  mercy 
and  peace  from  God  the  Father,  and  from  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Father,  in  truth  and  love. 

Sup't.  O  man,  greatly  beloved,  fear  not ;  peace  be  unto 
thee. 

Schools.  Grace  to  you,  and  peace  from  God  our  Father, 
and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Mr.  McWilliams,  in  introducing  Mr.  Wells,  said  : 
"  I  am  not  going  to  introduce  Mr.  Ralph  Wells  to 
a  Sunday-school  audience  in  the  City  of  Brooklyn. 
I  love  to  do  honor  to  the  man  who  stood  once  with 
a  noble  consecrated  band  on  a  vacant  lot,  from  the 
front  of  which  he  could  have  thrown  a  biscuit  into 
forty  grog-shops  ;  and  there  built  Grace  Mission 
Chapel." 


70  history  of  the 

Address  of  Mr.  Ralph  Wells. 

It  was  a  very,  a  very  kind  providence  that 
made  Anniversary  Day  come  on  Easter  Sab- 
bath. It  makes  it  sweeter  and  more  touch- 
ing as  we  look  to-day  from  this  pulpit  into  the 
empty  tomb  from  which  has  come  the  risen 
Christ.  I  stand  to-day  to  address  this  great 
audience,  feeling  that  I  am  greatly  privileged 
in  being  New  York's  representative  on  this 
occasion,  to  bring  congratulations  to  you  on 
this  happy  Anniversary.  I  realize  that  I  have 
before  me  all  the  hosts  of  the  Sunday-school, 
including  the  infantry,  for  the  little  ones  are 
here  to-day. 

It  has  always  been  my  plan,  and  I  am  sure 
it  has  been  yours  as  teachers  of  the  Word,  to 
keep  back  something  and  not  to  tell  all  you 
know ;  but  to  leave  part  for  the  pupils  to  find 
out  for  themselves.  I  shall  do  this  to-day.  I 
am  going  to  paint  a  little  picture  here  with 
my  finger.  I  am  not  going  to  mention  any 
names  and  will  not  tell  who  it  is  I  am  paint- 
ing.    If  I  paint  it  correctly,  you  will  all  be 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  71 

able  to  tell  who  it  is ;  and  if  I  do  not,  it  is  my 
fault.  I  will  try  to  make  the  picture  so  cor- 
rect that  even  the  infantry  will  know  whom  I 
mean.  Let  me  see  what  a  portrait  I  can  paint. 
I  want  the  little  ones  to  follow  me  because  I 
have  something  in  that  box,  not  a  Jack-in-a- 
box,  but  something  that  will  interest  them. 

When  we  look  at  the  portrait  of  our  dear 
Redeemer  in  the  good  Book,  the  more  we 
study  it,  the  larger,  the  grander,  and  wider  it 
grows,  heights  and  depths  are  discovered 
which  we  never  dreamed  of  before  when  we 
began  the  study  of  it.  We  sometimes  feel 
that  we  can  never  be  like  Him, — that  He  is 
too  holy.  He  is  too  great  and  we  can  never 
reach  our  ideal.  That  is  the  way  we  some- 
times feel.  When  we  read  the  life  of  Paul 
and  the  Apostles  who  followed  our  Lord,  we 
feel  that  this  is  a  little  more  possible  for  us  to 
follow  ;  but  they  seem  far  away.  Sometimes 
our  Heavenly  Father  comes  to  us  and  He 
gives  us  a  man  in  our  midst,  one  that  we  can 
see,  one  that  we  can  hear,  and  one  whose 
teachings  we  can  feel.     As  we  look  about  us 


72  HISTORY   OF  THE 

and  see  such  men  in  the  world,  we  are  in- 
spired and  are  aided  in  trying  to  follow 
Christ.  I  wish  to  paint  the  portrait  of  such 
a  man.  I  will  begin  by  giving  a  sketch  of 
the  whole  figure  first. 

I  have  a  very  dear  friend  in  India,  his  name 
is  Bowen,  George  Boweri.  He  has  been  a 
missionary  there  for  many  years.  I  can  feel 
the  grasp  of  his  hand  yet  in  mine,  many  years 
ago.  Some  one  asked  a  poor  Hindoo,  who 
knew  Mr.  Bowen,  "  What  kind  of  a  man  is 
Mr.  Bowen?"  The  poor  Hindoo  gave  this 
answer,  ''He  is  like  the  man  he  tells  us 
about."  So  my  picture  is  also  like  the  man 
he  tells  us  about.  But  I  want  to  put  in  a  lit- 
tle touch  here  and  a  little  touch  there  to  fill 
out  the  character. 

The  first  is,  that  my  portrait  is  that  of  a 
man  of  good  cheer, — a  cheerful  Christian.  I 
know  some  Christians  that  are  real  good 
men,  but  they  are  not  cheerful  Christians. 
When  you  meet  a  man  like  my  portrait  you 
feel  comfortable  and  happy.  Years  ago  when 
I  first  started  out  to  follow  Christ,  some  of  us 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  73 

in  New  York  wanted  to  start  a  young  men's 
Christian  association.  There  were  no  such 
associations  here,  so  two  of  us  went  across 
the  water  and  looked  into  the  English  Asso- 
ciations. When  we  came  back,  we  held  our 
first  meetings.  Dr.  Howard  Crosby  was  the 
President  of  the  Association.  I  remember 
that  we  did  not  want  to  run  in  debt  for  the 
carpet,  so  we  clubbed  together  and  bought 
one.  I  think  Mr.  Stewart  allowed  us  ten 
dollars  on  account,  which  is  one  of  the  pleas- 
ant memories  which  I  have  of  Mr.  Stewart. 
Many  of  the  good  ministers  in  town  said, 
"  Pooh,  pooh,  all  you  want  is  the  church. 
We  do  not  want  the  young  men  going  out 
of  the  church.  It  is  a  very  foolish  thing  for 
them  to  do."  But  we  looked  up  to  this  pic- 
ture and  the  good  man  said,  "  I  am  with  you, 
every  time.  I  am  with  you.  There  is  one 
thing  I  value  more  than  my  church, — it  is 
Christ  and  His  glory.  Whenever  you  want 
help,  come  to  me.  I  am  with  you."  That 
was  the  kind  of  a  man  he  was. 

Let  me  put  in  another  touch.    I  like  a  man 
4 


74  HISTORY  OF  THE 

who  has  a  heart, — a  man  whose  heart  you  can 
feel  as  you  hold  his  hand.  Now,  dear  friends, 
let  us  look  to  this  picture  and  see  if  we  have 
got  that  element  in  his  character.  Ah,  yes,  he 
has  a  sympathizing  face.  Such  men  are  only 
cradled  in  the  storms  of  life.  If  a  man  is  go- 
ing to  sympathize  and  feel  compassion  for 
others,  it  is  necessary  that  he  should  have 
been  through  trials  ;  if  he  is  going  to  heal 
wounded  spirits,  he  must  have  been  through  the 
fire.  I  was  once  in  the  northern  part  of  this 
State,  staying  for  a  week ;  and  while  there  I 
heard  that  an  old  friend,  a  lady,  had  lost  two 
lovely  daughters.  They  had  lately  been  con- 
verted to  God,  and  when  they  were  converted, 
I  was  with  them.  Some  friends  said,  "You 
are  the  one  to  speak  to  her.*'  I  said,  I  have 
not  seen  her  for  a  long  time,  and  I  do  not 
think  I  can  do  her  any  good.  But  they  said, 
You  must  go  ;  so  I  went,  dear  friends.  She 
came  down  like  a  marble  statue  and  sat  upon 
a  sofa.  I  will  never  forget  the  expression  of 
that  woman's  face.  I  spoke  of  one  and  an- 
other passage  of  the  Word  of  God.     I  said  to 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  75 

her  that  the  Lord  felt  for  her  and  sympathized 
with  her ;  that  as  Jesus  had  taken  her  daughters 
for  Himself,  so  had  He  taken  them  to  Him- 
self ;  that  they  were  His  children.  She  did  not 
speak  a  word.  She  sat  there  like  a  statue. 
Finally  she  asked  me  one  question,  which  will 
add  another  touch  to  my  picture.  It  was  this, 
"  Have  you  ever  lost  a  child?"  I  said,  "  No." 
She  said,  *'  Send  me  some  one  who  has."  So 
it  is  with  us  all.  If  I  want  to  stand  by  a  little 
empty  crib  and  heal  the  wounded  spirits  of 
the  parents,  I  must  have  stood  beside  the 
empty  crib  of  my  own  child.  Let  us  look  on 
my  picture.  You  can  see  it  is  the  face  of  a 
man  who  has  seen  trouble  and  who  knows 
how  to  feel  tender  sympathy  for  those  in 
trouble.  It  is  a  kind  and  sympathizing  face. 
You  know  it  is  harder  to  paint  a  hand  than 
it  is  to  paint  a  face.  I  tried  to  make  one 
once  on  my  blackboard  for  a  Sunday-school 
class,  and  one  of  the  children  said  it  looked 
like  a  crow's  foot.  However,  I  will  try  to 
paint  the  hand  of  my  picture.  It  holds  a  pen. 
Ah,  yes,  my  picture  holds  a  pen.     Here  are 


76  HISTORY   OF  THE 

some    of   the   things   that   that   hand  wrote. 
"Stray   Arrows,"  '' Heart- Life,"    and    ''The 
Empty  Crib."     I  have  not  got  the  Evangel- 
ist.    But  I  know  you  all  take  it.      The  Evan- 
gelist, words  that  burn,  that  fire  the  heart  and 
inspire  the  mind.     Yes,  the  hand  holds  a  pen, 
and  every  word  of  that  pen  has  brought  com- 
fort and  inspiration  to  somebody  during  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  labor.     These 
words  have  spread  everywhere.     They  have 
flown  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  bearing  comfort 
to  many  hearts.     Let  me  put  another  touch 
to  the  picture.     When  General  Garfield  was 
inaugurated — if   this  was  a  Sunday-school,  I 
would  ask  a  question  ;  but  as  it  is  not,  and  I 
am  up  here  in  the  pulpit,  I  will  not — as  he 
stood  there  on  the  steps  of  the  Capitol  before 
the   assembled    nation,    I    am   told,    that    he 
stepped  down  and  walked  across  and  put  his 
arms  around  an  old  lady's  neck  and  kissed 
her.     Blessed  President  Garfield.     Here  as  I 
see  this  picture,  I  see  that  the  portrait  is  sit- 
ting at  an  aged  lady's  feet,  aged  with  a  crown 
of  glory  on  her  head.     He  sits  there  with  a 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  7/ 

look  of  love  in  his  face.  This  is  in  the  pic- 
ture. I  think  of  this  picture  when  I  think  of 
filial  love.  Here  is  a  picture.  I  hold  it  in 
my  hand.  I  took  it  out  of  my  album  before 
I  came  here.  It  is  the  picture  of  the  man 
whom  I  am  trying  to  paint.  I  will  not  tell 
you  his  name.  You  may  not  be  able  to  see 
it,  all  of  you  ;  but  some  of  you  can  see  from 
the  way  in  which  he  wears  his  hair  Vv^ho  it  is. 

It  would  not  do  for  me  to  stop  just  here.  I 
always  keep  the  best  of  the  wine  for  the  last 
of  the  feast ;  and  I  have  not  touched  upon  the 
most  important  of  all  the  features  of  my  pic- 
ture. Here  it  is.  It  is  written  upon  his  fore- 
head— an  ambassador  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Yes,  an  ambassador.  He  never  for- 
gets it.  Never  mind  where  you  see  him,  he 
does  not  ever  forget  the  dignity  that  is  becom- 
ing to  an  ambassador  of  Jesus  Christ.  There 
is  a  kind  of  description  of  him  in  the  Holy 
Word.  Let  me  give  it  to  you.  You  will 
find  it  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  the  book  of 
Acts.  After  you  read  it  you  will  perhaps 
then  surely  know  who  this  picture  is.     In  this 


78  HISTORY    OF  THE 

chapter  I  read  what  the  Apostle  Paul  said  to 
the  church  officers  when  they  came  to  him 
before  he  went  to  Jerusalem  :  ''  Ye  know 
from  the  first  day  that  I  came  into  Asia,  after 
what  manner  I  have  been  with  you  at  all  sea- 
sons, serving  the  Lord  with  all  humility  of 
mind,  and  with  many  tears  and  temptations, 
which  befell  me  by  the  lying  in  wait  of  the 
Jews."  Let  me  look  at  my  picture.  Yes,  he 
says  that.  ''  Serving  the  Lord  with  all  hu- 
mility of  mind."  Yes,  that  is  there.  ''With 
many  tears  and  temptations  which  befell  me 
by  the  lying  in  wait  of  the  Jews."  That  does 
not  belong  to  my  picture  altogether.  There 
have  been  tears  and  temptations,  but  there  has 
been  no  lying  in  wait  of  the  Jews  here.  Is 
this  true  ?  '*  I  have  taught  you  publicly,  and 
from  house  to  house,  testifying  both  to  the 
Jews  and  also  to  the  Greeks,  repentance 
toward  God,  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  Has  that  been  the  teaching  of  this 
pulpit  ?  Yes,  it  has.  ''  Wherefore  I  take  you 
to  record  this  day,  that  I  am  pure  from  the 
blood  of  all  men.     For  I  have  not  shunned  to 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  79 

declare  unto  you  all  the  counsel  of  God."  Ah, 
that  is  so.  I  would  not  want  to  appear  be- 
fore God  after  such  preaching  from  the  Lafay- 
ette Avenue  Church,  unsaved. 

I  call  upon  you  to  cheer  your  pastor  in  his 
work.  Cheer  him  with  this  response,  ''As 
for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  follow  the  Lord." 
Oh,  what  cheer  you  can  give  him  by  doing  so. 
How  his  heart  would  rejoice. 

One  little  word  more  for  some  of  the  young 
ones.  I  have  a  little  box  in  my  hand  that  I 
think  you  will  be  able  to  see.  Please  tell  me 
what  this  is  that  I  hold  in  my  hand.  (School, 
"  A  butterfly.")  Yes,  a  butterfly.  Can  you 
tell  me  what  this  is  ?  I  do  not  suppose  you 
can.  That  is  the  case  out  of  which  that  but- 
terfly came.  That  butterfly  was  once  a  little 
brown  worm  that  might  have  been  crawling 
on  a  cabbage-leaf  perhaps.  When  it  thought 
that  it  had  lived  its  little  life  long  enough,  the 
little  worm  drew  himself  up  a  little.  First,  he 
drew  in  a  leg,  and  then  another,  and  then 
drew  himself  all  up.  Then  out  of  the  body 
came  a  little  brown  beeswax  substance  and 


80  HISTORY   OF  THE 

sealed  him  tight.  If  you  had  seen  him  then 
fastened  to  an  old  rail,  you  would  have 
thought  it  was  a  little  piece  of  dirt,  and  not 
stopped  to  look  at  it.  One  day  a  warm  spring 
rain  came  and  the  warm  sun.  If  you  had 
happened  to  be  watching  then,  you  would 
have  seen  a  little  crack  upon  it.  Then  you 
would  have  seen  a  little  head  begin  to  peep 
out.  Then  a  little  pair  of  wings.  Then  in  a 
little  while  you  would  have  seen  this  beautiful 
butterfly  flying  from  flower  to  flower. 

This  is  Easter  Sunday.  What  your  pastor 
wants  is  this  :  He  wants  you  to  come  out  of 
the  shell.  He  does  not  want  you  to  have 
wings,  for  children  do  not  have  wings ;  they 
belong  to  angels,  or  at  least  people  say  so  ; 
but  he  wants  you  to  come  out  of  the  shell  and 
enter  upon  the  life  in  the  Lord.  What  your 
pastor  wants  is  that  you  little  ones  enter  the 
fold  of  Christ,  who  said,  *'  Suffer  little  children 
to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  Heaven."  Cheer 
your  pastor  by  doing  this.  Cheer  him  now. 
I  remember  once  of  reading  about  a  fireman. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  8 1 

He  was  climbing  a  ladder  to  save  a  woman. 
He  had  her  in  his  arms,  and  was  bringing  her 
down.  The  smoke  rolled  around  him,  and  he 
became  faint  and  exhausted.  The  load  seemed 
too  heavy.  He  was  almost  overcome  by  the 
smoke  and  the  flame,  and  he  began  to  reel, 
reel,  reel.  Someone  said,  '' Cheer  him."  And 
they  gave  three  hearty  cheers.  The  fireman 
heard  them,  and  with  a  mighty  effort  he  re- 
covered himself  and  brought  the  woman  safely 
down.  So  you  must  cheer  your  pastor.  Some 
believe  in  not  cheering  a  man  while  he  lives  ; 
they  wait  until  he  dies  and  then  cheer  him. 
Do  not  do  this  with  your  pastor.  Cheer  him 
now.  And  may  God  grant  him  twenty-five 
years  more  of  earnest  successful  work  for  the 

dear  Lord  Jesus. 

Hymn, — Infant  Class. 

The  sweetest  words  I  have  ever  read 
Are  the  loving  words  that  the  Saviour  said  : 
"  Suffer  the  children  to  come  to  me." 
Who  would  ever  thought  of  this  but  He  ? 

Chorus. — "Suffer  the  children  to  come  to  me," 
"  Suffer  the  children  to  come  to  me  "; 
I  am  as  glad  as  glad  can  be ; 
Those  very  words  were  meant  for  me. 


82  HISTORY   OF  THE 

I  wonder  what  I  should  ever  do, 
If  the  Saviour  had  only  called  a  few  ; 
Taking  the  old,  and  the  wise  and  great ; 
Oh,  I  am  so  glad  I  need  not  wait. 

Cho. — Suffer  the  children  to  come  to  me,  etc. 

Mr.  McWilliams  introduced  the  next  speaker  as 
follows  : 

These  are  very  sacred  names  represented  by  the 
superintendents  who  are  with  us  to-day  :  "  Olivet," 
"Grace,"  and  "  Bethany." 

Among  the  most  precious  words  in  the  Bible  are 
these  :  "  And  he  led  them  as  far  as  to  Bethany,  and 
he  lifted  up  his  hands  and  blessed  them."  That  was 
forty  days  after  Easter,  when  the  Saviour  ascended 
on  high.  We  have  with  us  to-day  Mr.  John  Wana- 
maker,  of  Philadelphia,  Superintendent  of  Bethany, 
over  which  the  hands  of  the  Master  seem  ever  to  be 
lifted  in  blessing,  and  where  our  pastor's  friend  is 
doing  most  wonderful  work  for  Christ.  He  will 
now  speak  to  us. 

Mr.  John  VVanamaker's  Address. 

When  I  was  a  little  fellow,  I  remember 
taking  a  basket,  and  going  to  a  neighboring 
farm  for  some  pears  of  a  kind  that  my  father 
liked  very  much.  I  got  my  basket  full  and 
started  for  home,  and  on  my  way  I  met  a  boy 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  83 

bigger  than  myself,  who  begged  for  some  of 
the  pears.  Possibly  it  was  a  very  reasonable 
request ;  but  as  my  basket  was  so  little,  I 
wanted  all  I  had  for  my  father,  and  so  I  said, 
"  No,  you  can  get  some  where  I  got  these." 
He  said,  ''  No,  I  want  some  of  yours."  He 
was  the  biggest  boy  of  the  two,  and  began  to 
help  himself,  and  I  could  not  prevent  him. 
He  took  one  after  another,  and  I  saw  my 
treasures  rapidly  disappearing.  I  became  so 
enraged  that  I  took  what  I  had  left  and  threw 
them  at  him  as  fast  as  I  could.  Moral — 
When  we  lose  our  tempers  we  pretty  nearly 
always  lose  our  pears.  I  have  not  thought  of 
that  boyhood  incident  for  a  long  time,  but 
Mr.  Wells  is  the  big  fellow  that  meets  me  to- 
day and  empties  my  basket  again.  He  took 
one  pear  after  another,  and  did  not  even  leave 
President  Garfield  in  my  basket. 

When  I  sat  here  this  morning  and  saw  Dr. 
Cuyler  with  his  eyes  ever  and  anon  wandering 
over  the  part  of  the  church  where  I  sat,  and 
resting  on  a  little  pew  near  me,  I  caught  the 
meaning  of  it  by  the  kisses  he  sent  over  the 


84  HISTORY   OF  THE 

heads  of  the  people  to  that  little  mother  of 
his  who  has  all  these  years  sat  in  that  same 
spot  praying  over  what  she  could  not  hear.  I 
am  not  here  like  Mr.  Wells  to  represent  New 
York,  nor  can  I  make  bold  to  represent  Phil- 
adelphia. In  the  twenty-six  years  that  I  have 
been  superintendent  of  one  school,  I  have 
never  until  to-day  left  it  for  a  single  Sabbath 
to  deliver  anniversary  addresses  to  other 
schools.  But  this  is  an  extraordinary  oc- 
casion, and  it  is  my  duty  as  well  as  my 
delight  to  come  over  from  Philadelphia  to 
stand  beside  the  man  to-day  who  has  had  so 
much  to  do  with  the  work  of  my  life.  Some 
men  are  greater  than  one  church,  greater  than  a 
city,  larger  than  a  continent.  As  the  Washing- 
ton Monument  rises  high  above  all  the  mighty 
shafts  of  imperishable  marble,  so  your  pastor 
mounts  up  among  American  pastors  of  the 
present  century  as  the  king  and  chieftain  of 
them  all. 

If  it  were  proper  for  the  dear  minister  to 
send  those  kisses  to  his  little  mother,  and  for 
the  new  President  that  memorable  day  to  put 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  85 

first  his  arms  about  the  neck  of  mother  Gar- 
field, surely  we  have  some  right  to  bring  kisses 
of  affection  and  wreaths  of  love  to  crown  the 
man  whose  blessings  we  have  had  for  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century. 

From  this  pulpit  all  these  years  an  influence 
has  gone  out,  reaching  farther  than  your 
Brooklyn  Bridge  from  its  city  to  city.  It  has 
swung  over  to  Philadelphia,  and  passed  on 
beyond  the  AUeghanies  until  the  shores  of 
distant  seas  felt  the  power  of  one  earnest,  con- 
secrated life.  The  electric  current  has  sped  it 
on  from  continent  to  continent  until  the  wide 
world  has  felt  the  beneficence  and  blessing  of 
the  ministry  of  Lafayette  Avenue  Church. 
This  beautiful  anniversary  shall  fail  in  its  best 
influence  if  it  does  not  inspire  you  and  me  to 
build  our  lives  by  the  same  measure. 

Dr.  Cuyler's  life  sometimes  seems  to  me 
like  a  great  cathedral  full  of  melody,  singing 
of  hope,  singing  wonderful  words  of  life,  of 
cheer  and  comfort.  Then  sometimes  I  won- 
der if  he  has  a  magician's  ken  to  know  my 
needs,  and  write  the  little  book  or  send  the 


86  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Evangelist  to   tell  me   something,  the   very 
thing  I  want  to  help  me  on. 

Some  months  ago  there  came  a  man  across 
my  track  who  placed  on  a  common  table  some 
bars  of  black  rock,  said  to  have  come  from 
Killarney,  and  then  with  a  little  hammer  he 
began  to  strike  them  and  they  began  to  sing. 
I  can  not  tell  when  I  ever  heard  sweeter  mu- 
sic than  that.  "  Home,  Sweet  Home "  and 
"  Auld  Lang  Syne "  floated  out  through  the 
great  building  from  those  bits  of  rock,  and 
filled  it  with  exquisite  melody  ;  so  it  seems  that 
Dr.  Cuyler  all  these  days,  with  the  hammer  of 
God's  Word  has  been  striking  the  black  rock 
of  human  hearts,  and  set  them  to  singing,  to 
make  an  ever-widening  melody  through  this 
dark  world  of  sin  and  sorrow. 

The  fine  address  and  portrait-painting  of 
Mr.  Wells  set  me  to  thinking  of  a  gentleman 
who  was  seeking  in  a  strange  town  for  a 
friend  whose  address  he  was  not  able  to  give. 
He  encountered  a  boy,  to  whom  he  described 
his  friend's  looks.  The  boy  shook  his  head 
and   said   he   did   not  know  such  a  person. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  87 

**  Well,"  said  the  gentleman,  "you  do  not  know 
where  my  friend  lives ;  but  I  can  tell  you 
where  a  friend  lives  that  loves  you  and  cares 
for  you."  The  good  man  then  told  him  of  Je- 
sus, and  bade  him  good-bye.  Soon  after  the 
boy  came  running,  and  said,  "  Mister,  I  guess 
I  know  the  man  you  want ;  he  lives  just  over 
yonder.  I  think  he  must  be  your  friend,  'cause 
he  talks  just  like  you  and  is  a  Christian."  He 
knew  from  something  in  the  man's  tones  and 
manner  that  he  must  be  a  Christian,  and  sent 
him  along  to  the  man  the  town  called  a  Chris- 
tian. So  when  Mr.  Wells  was  painting,  we 
quickly  caught  the  figure.  May  I  try  to  put 
a  stroke  on  the  splendid  picture  ?  Let  me 
add  to  it  a  line  for  the  good  work  of  sermons 
in  shoes  as  well  as  pen-work. 

If  the  story  of  this  church  could  only  be 
put  on  canvas  and  carried  up  and  down  this 
country  ; — if  it  could  be  placed  up  before  the 
building  in  which  blasphemous  infidels  are  ad- 
vertised to  lecture,  it  would  be  difficult  ever 
to  get  an  audience. 

Before  the  rugged  facts  of  one  man's  holy, 


88  HISTORY   OF  THE 

earnest  life  none  could  stand  to  speak  lightly 
of  the  power  of  God.  Let  the  truth  of  such 
Gospel  lives  be  clearly  brought  to  the  minds 
of  men,  it  will  defeat  all  that  infidel  lecturing 
can  do. 

Your  superintendent  has  stated  that  you  are 
omitting  the  International  Lesson  of  the  day; 
but  most  assuredly  you  are  having  one  that 
must  remind  you  of  the  Scripture  of  the  day. 
When  you  think  of  Paul's  company  setting 
sail  long  ago,  you  will  think  of  the  apostle  of 
Lafayette  Avenue  starting  out  twenty-five 
years  ago.  When  you  think  of  the  storms 
that  fell  upon  Paul,  you  will  think  of  the  bat- 
tles your  pastor  has  been  in — battles  against 
intemperance,  against  infidelity,  false  doctrine, 
and  worldliness.  That  same  angel  of  the 
Lord  that  stood  by  Paul  has  stood  by  your 
pastor  and  all  the  ship's  company  here.  Let 
the  little  man  stand  up  and  answer  if  that  is 
not  the  truth.  Yea,  this  very  morning  there 
must  have  been  troops  of  angels  standing 
about  his  pulpit,  and  in  these  aisles  and  galler- 
ies, where  pastor  and  people  worshipped  God. 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  89 

In  the  great  galleries  of  Munich  there  is  a 
picture  that,  when  you  first  see  it,  seems  only 
a  blur  ;  closer  examination  makes  it  appear  to 
be  clouds ;  but,  standing  in  the  right  light, 
you  find  it  to  be  a  picture  of  faces,  faces  of 
children  or  of  angels,  from  side  to  side,  from 
top  to  bottom — hosts  of  angels.  So  all  along 
down  the  life  of  this  little  man  there  are  faces 
that  to-day  crowd  forward  to  our  sight,  and 
we  all  say,  "  See, — these  are  the  angels  of 
God  that  encamp  round  about  him  ! " 

Let  each  one  ask  now,  What  has  been  the 
one  purpose  of  this  life  ?  What  has  he  la- 
bored for  ?  There  is  but  one  answer,  and  it 
'  is :  To  bring  you  all  to  Christ. 

When  the  Senators  were  debating  at  Wash- 
ington on  the  bill  to  retire  Gen.  Grant,  for 
whom  a  whole  nation  prays  on  this  Easter 
Sabbath,  Senator  Hoar  is  reported  to  have 
said,  "  If  it  were  necessary  to  pass  this  bill,  I 
would  be  willing  to  go  through  this  city  on 
my  knees  from  one  end  of  it  to  the  other." 

Through  all  these  years  this  good  man  has 
gone  upon  his  knees  that  he  might  gain  for 


90  HISTORY   OF  THE 

you  the  blessings  of  God  for  your  hearts  and 
homes.  How  he  has  wrestled  with  God  for 
this  old  church  ship  and  its  great  cargo ! 
Who  is  there  here  who  does  not  feel  to-day 
that  many  of  us  may  have  been  spared  by  the 
prayers  of  this  godly  man  ?  May  it  not  be 
that  God  has  given  to  him  the  lives  of  all  in 
the  ship  ?  Did  not  God  bless  the  house  of 
Potiphar  for  Joseph's  sake?  Was  not  the 
city  where  Daniel  lived  blessed  and  pros- 
pered for  his  sake  ?  Is  not  Brooklyn  to-day 
most  blessed  for  the  man  whose  life  has  been 
so  prayerful  and  beautiful  ? 

Will  you  suffer  me  on  this  day,  so  solemn 
and  yet  so  glad,  to  exhort  you  all  in  Paul's 
words  to  ''abide  in  the  ship,"  stay  in  the 
place  of  blessing  and  with  the  people  of  God. 

Hold  fast  to  the  old  Bible  and  its  simplest 
truths. 

A  young  Englishman,  going  off  to  New 
Orleans,  was  asked  by  his  mother  if  he  had 
packed  everything  for  the  journey.  He  said, 
"  I  think  I  have."  She  said,  "  Have  you  got 
your  Bible?"     "No,"  was  the  reply,  "  I  do 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  9 1 

not  need  any  Bible ;  I  have  Shakespeare,  and 
that  is  all  I  need."  The  mother  said,  *'  Here, 
my  son,  take  your  mother's  Bible."  But  he 
hurried  away,  saying,  "  I  do  not  want  any 
Bible."  A  few  weeks  later,  word  was  re- 
ceived that  he  had  reached  New  Orleans  in 
safety ;  but  that,  unaccustomed  to  the  cli- 
mate, he  had  taken  a  fever,  and  was  ill  among 
strangers.  With  no  particular  interest  in  him, 
they  watched  by  his  bed,  and  now  and  then 
would  hear  him  say,  ''  Mother's  Bible  !  mother's 
Bible  !  mother's  Bible  ! "  Little  did  they  know 
what  was  meant  by  the  dying  man  as  he  tossed 
from  side  by  side,  saying,  ''  Mother's  Bible ! " 
Ah,  dear  friends,  in  this  day  of  rush  and 
hurry  and  excitement  and  castle-building,  it 
may  be  that  we  are  building  without  mother's 
Bible ;  but  to  me  it  seems,  as  we  see  the  in- 
laid altars  of  this  church  and  the  beautiful 
life-building  of  the  man  who  has  wrought  so 
faithfully  here,  that  each  of  us  will  say  and 
feel,  "Give  us  more  Bible.  That  same  old 
Bible  that  has  made  this  one  life  so  effective 
shall  make  my  life  strong  and  fruitful  too." 


92  HISTORY   OF  THE 

When  Mr.  Wells  last  visited  Philadelphia, 
a  few  months  ago,  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
stood  by  him ;  and  though  he  may  not  know 
this,  I  may  tell  him  now,  that  since  that  8th 
of  January  a  great  revival  has  gone  on  ;  480 
persons  have  their  names  written  down  at 
Bethany  as  inquiring  the  way  of  life. 

What  a  blessed  turn  to  this  anniversary, 
what  a  magnificent  crown  to  this  memorial 
time,  if  some  of  you  out  of  this  school  should 
come  up  and  say,  "  Pastor,  I  have  heard  the 
words  of  the  good  man  that  drew  the  picture, 
and  I  believe  that  Christ  is  my  Saviour.  I 
give  my  heart  to  your  Lord  and  Christ.  Put 
me  down  in  the  ship's  company.  Let  me  sail 
with  you  in  the  great  ship  of  God  to  the  har- 
bor of  joy  and  peace."  Why  not,  dear  friends  ? 
Come  along,  and  your  old  pastor's  eyes  will 
shine  brighter  and  his  old  heart  be  happier 
than  if  you  filled  this  whole  church  with  gold 
for  him. 

A  captain  of  one  of  the  great  ships  coming 
into  port  at  Liverpool,  walked  up  to  the 
steamer  office  to  put  in  his  report.     When 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  93 

out  three  or  four  days,  they  lost  a  man  over- 
board. He  told  how  the  boat  was  lowered 
and  every  effort  made  to  save  the  man,  and  of 
how  the  screw  must  have  struck  him  and  sent 
him  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  That  was  a 
sad  story  for  the  captain  to  tell  that  he  had 
come  in  with  one  man  less  than  his  roster 
called  for.  Are  you  going  to  allow  the  cap- 
tain that  sails  this  ship  to  come  into  port  and 
stand  before  the  Master  Captain  and  say, 
"  There  is  one  lost  who  was  given  to  me — one 
for  whom  I  prayed  and  labored.  I  lowered 
the  boat,  I  sounded  the  trumpet ;  but  it  was 
of  no  avail  ?"  God  forbid  !  but  may  it  be  that 
every  one  on  board  to-day  shall  "  bide  in  the 
ship,"  and  come  to  the  port  of  peace  and  haven 
of  rest.  And  unto  Him  that  hath  loved  us 
and  redeemed  us  be  the  glory,  for  ever  and 
ever. 

Hymn, — *'Come,  We  that  Love  the  Lord" 

Come,  we  that  love  the  Lord, 

And  let  our  joys  be  known ; 
Join  in  a  song  with  sweet  accord. 

And  thus  surround  the  throne. 


94  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Chorus. — We're  marching  to  Zion, 
Beautiful,  beautiful  Zion, 
We're  marching  upward  to  Zion, 
The  beautiful  city  of  God. 

Let  those  refuse  to  sing 
Who  never  knew  our  God ; 

But  children  of  the  heavenly  King 
May  speak  their  joys  abroad. 

Chorus. — We're  marching  to  Zion,  etc. 


Address  of  Dr.  Cuyler. 

Dear  friends,  all  this  is  to  me  very  much 
like  a  dream.  I  have  not  known  myself, 
certainly  not  for  the  last  hour  or  two.  I  do 
not  know  the  man  Mr.  Wells  talked  about. 
That  man  is  not  I.  I  am  ashamed  to-day,  not 
of  Christ,  not  of  that  book,  or  not  of  my  office 
as  a  minister ;  but  as  I  look  over  the  forty 
years  of  my  life  employed  in  the  ministry,  I 
am  ashamed  that  I  have  not  come  up  to  that 
fair  picture  that  my  beloved  heart-brother 
painted. 

No  three  men  could  have  stood  here  with 
me  to-day  whose  presence  would  have  given 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  95 

me  more  pleasure  than  I  have  felt  in  having 
Brother  McWilliams,  Brother  Wells,  and 
Brother  Wanamaker  here  with  me.  Brother 
McWilHams,  if  David's  love  for  Jonathan  was 
greater  than  mine  for  you,  I  pity  them. 
Brother  Wells,  from  the  time  we  worked  to- 
gether in  New  York  thirty-three  years  ago, 
has  been  a  representative  man  in  Sabbath- 
school  work.  As  for  Brother  John  from 
Philadelphia,  who  has  turned  away  from  two 
thousand  pupils  to  come  here  to-day,  I  thank 
him  from  my  heart  of  hearts. 

Children,  do  you  know  that  the  best  thing 
connected  with  this  anniversary  is  the  Sabbath- 
school  meeting  ?  Letters  have  followed  letters 
from  all  parts  of  the  world.  I  have  not  had 
time  to  read  them  yet ;  but  I  will  when  I  get 
time.  Some  of  them  will  be  read  here  in  good 
time ;  but  none  of  them  have  given  me  so 
much  pleasure  as  this  meeting.  My  boys  and 
girls,  I  tell  you  that  you  have  got  hold  of  my 
heart-strings  to-day.  Twenty-five  years  ago 
the  Sabbath-school  was  a  mere  handful  com- 
pared to  this.    Some  of  the  pupils  have  grown 


96  HISTORY   OF  THE 

up,  and  are  now  connected  with  this  church. 
I  baptized  a  babe  before  this  altar,  soon  after 
I  came  here.  I  married  her  since  and  bap- 
tized two  of  her  children  before  this  pulpit. 
That  makes  me  feel  as  if  I  was  getting  old. 
Some  of  these  children  are  now  scattered  over 
the  world.  Some  of  them  have  gone  to  Cali- 
fornia. When  I  was  in  Utah,  a  young  man 
came  up  and  said,  **  Dr.  Cuyler,  I  was  once  in 
your  Sunday-school  in  Brooklyn.  I  am  now 
teaching  a  mission-school  up  in  Brigham 
Canon,  where  there  are  fifty  bottles  to  one 
Bible.  I  came  down  here  to  see  my  old 
pastor."  Another  one  met  me  in  California ; 
and  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  said,  ''  When 
did  you  see  father  and  mother  in  Brooklyn?" 
and  then  broke  down  and  could  say  no  more. 
That  young  man  is  out  in  California  at  work. 
Lafayette  Avenue  Sunday-school  has  its  repre- 
sentatives all  over  the  world. 

When  I  was  young,  I  thought  I  would  be 
a  lawyer.  My  father  was  a  lawyer,  my  grand- 
father was  a  lawyer,  and  my  father-in-law  that 
was  to  be,  was  a  lawyer.     When   I  was  five 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  97 

years  old,  my  grandfather  said  to  my  mother, 
"  I  will  give  you  two  Hbraries;  one  of  them  is 
for  Theodore  when  he  wants  it."  My  mother 
then  said  that  I  was  to  be  a  minister.  "Well," 
said  my  grandfather,  ''Theodore  will  never 
want  that  library,  for  I  have  no  books  there 
for  ministers.'*  A  Httle  incident  in  early  life 
determined  me  to  be  a  minister.  I  have  often 
passed  the  spot  when  riding  along  Cayuga 
Lake,  where  at  five  o'clock  one  afternoon,  I 
determined  to  devote  my  life  to  the  preaching 
of  God's  Word.  I  always  take  off  my  hat  and 
thank  God  that  I  so  decided ;  just  as  Paul 
praised  God  when  he  went  back  to  that  spot 
where  he  met  the  Lord.  When  I  look  back 
over  all  these  years,  I  feel  that  I  might  have 
done  more  for  Christ ;  but  I  thank  God  that 
I  have  lived  to  preach  Christ,  and  have  lived 
to  lead  some  young  hearts  to  Jesus. 

I  have  thought  that  to-day  would  be  a  good 
time  for  me  to  die ;  and  after  to-morrow's  ex- 
ercises are  over,  I  may  feel  that  it  is  a  good 
time  to  die,  right  on  this  deep  wave  of  kind, 
affectionate  reunion.  Die,  die,  no.  I  do  not 
5 


98  HISTORY   OF  THE 

wish  to  die.  If  I  can  save  one  soul  more,  I 
pray  that  God  will  spare  me  to  do  it.  I  only 
ask  to  be  allowed  to  live  long  enough  to  save 
the  last  soul  that  I  can  ever  reach  before  he 
goes  down.  Then  let  God  take  me  home.  If 
there  is  a  young  man  here  to-day,  debating 
what  profession  he  will  select  for  his  life-work, 
I  have  just  one  word  to  say  to  that  young 
man.  Ask  God  how  you  can  do  the  most 
good,  and  how  you  can  glorify  Him  and  save 
souls ;  and  if  you  become  an  earnest,  Christ- 
loving  minister,  you  would  not  change  places 
with  the  foremost  lawyer  of  the  land,  the  rich- 
est merchant,  or  the  President  of  the  United 
States. 

I  have  said  these  few  words  with  an  aching 
head,  and  preached  this  morning  under  a  strong 
nervous  agitation  ;  and  I  hesitated  whether  to 
rise  and  say  a  word  to  you  this  afternoon  or 
not.  So  oppressed  have  I  been  with  all  the 
sweet  mercies  that  God  has  poured  upon  me 
on  this  blessed  Sabbath,  that  I  have  felt  like 
sitting  down  like  a  little  child  and  crying.  If 
it  is  so  sweet  to  serve  our  Maker  in  this  poor 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  99 

and  imperfect  fashion,  what  will  it  be  to  serve 
Him  in  heaven  ? 

Good-afternoon,  dear  children,  I  love  you ; 
and  I  want  you  to  love  me,  and  above  all,  I 
want  you  to  love  that  dear  Saviour  that  died 
for  you  and  me.  If  from  this  day  on,  this 
church  and  this  Sabbath-school  shall  grow 
stronger  in  the  work  for  Christy  I  shall  feel 
that  these  beautiful  services  have  been  some- 
thing more  than  words  of  kindness  and  affec- 
tion for  your  pastor,  and  have  been  sacred  ser- 
vices for  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

Hymn,—"  Our  Sabbath  Homer— ^.  V.  H. 

"  Like  doves  to  their  windows  "  the  glad  children  come, 
To  meet  with  rejoicing  in  our  Sabbath  home, 
And  plight  with  our  Pastor,  so  faithful  and  true, 
At  this  Silver  Wedding  our  promise  anew. 

Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home. 
With  gladness  the  children  now  gather  at  home. 

United  in  heart  and  united  in  hand ; 
Both  sorrow  and  gladness  have  strengthened  the  band ; 
Sweet  counsel  together,  with  prayer  and  with  praise, 
And  blessings  unnumbered  have  crowned  our  days. 

Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home, 
One  household  of  faith  we  would  worship  at  home. 


100  HISTORY   OF  THE 

We  think  of  the  absent,  for  sweet  is  the  tie, 
With  those  whom  the  blood  of  the  Saviour  makes  nigh. 
We  yearn  for  the  dear  ones,  for  those  gone  above, 
Who  sing  the  "  old  story  "  of  Christ  and  His  love. 

Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home, 
Who,  going  before  us,  are  gathered  at  home. 

Though  soon  we  be  sundered  by  land  and  by  tide. 
Our  hearts  will  still  follow  our  shepherd  and  guide, 
And  pray  the  dear  Father  who  sees  from  above. 
To  watch,  and  protect,  and  return  him  in  love  ; 

Home,  home,  sweet,  sweet  home, 
May  his  waiting  people  soon  welcome  him  home. 

Benediction. 

Pastor.  Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  keep  you  from 
falling,  and  to  present  you  faultless  before  the  presence  of 
his  glory  with  exceeding  joy : 

All,  To  the  only-wise  God  our  Saviour,  be  glory  and 
majesty,  dominion  and  power,  both  now  and  ever.     Amen. 

At  the  evening  service  in  the  church,  Professor  A. 
Alexander  Hodge  delivered  a  masterly  discourse  on 
the  Resurrection  of  Christ  and  the  Heavenly  Home 
of  His  people.  The  joyful  services  of  this  memo- 
rable Easter  Sabbath  concluded  with  the  singing  of 

"  All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name, 
Let  angels  prostrate  fall ; 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 
And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all ! " 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  lOI 


THE    REUNION    ON   MONDAY 
EVENING— April  6th. 

The  same  clear  skies  and  vernal  atmosphere  which 
made  the  Sabbath  so  bright  and  balmy  lent  their 
favoring  influences  to  the  Reunion  on  Monday  even- 
ing. The  lecture-room  and  the  social-parlors  of  the 
church  were  thrown  into  one  large  reception-hall, 
and  the  walls  were  adorned  with  rich  and  rare  paint- 
ings kindly  loaned  from  several  private  galleries. 
One  of  the  daily  journals  of  the  city — the  Brooklyn 
Eagle — gives  the  following  report  of  the  exercises 
during  the  first  hour  of  the  evening  : 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Theodore  Ledyard  Cuyler 
stood  in  the  lecture-room  of  the  Lafayette 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  and  shook  hands 
for  over  an  hour  with  a  stream  of  friends  who 
flowed  by  him.  He  was  in  the  lecture-room 
with  his  back  to  a  wall,  against  which  rose  a 
bank  of  white  azalias  that  reached  above  his 
head.  Flanking  the  azalias  were  tall,  graceful 
calla-lilies,  and  over  all  shot  up  the  green  palm 
branches.     Over  the  doors  of  the  room  were 


102  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Stars  of  palm.  The  pillars  were  entwined  with 
smilax,  and  along  the  walls  were  hung  pieces 
of  ancient  armor — shields  and  swords  and 
breastplates  and  spears,  all  typifying  doubtless 
the  weapons  Dr.  Cuyler  has  employed  in  his 
fights  with  the  enemy  of  souls.  One  of  the 
decorations  appeared  to  be  somewhat  unique. 
It  was  a  spade  with  a  bunch  of  ribbons  tied  to 
it  and  the  figures  "  1860-1885"  branded  upon 
its  handle.  It  was  the  spade  with  which 
ground  was  broken  for  the  Lafayette  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  year  first  men- 
tioned. 

The  occasion  was  a  reception  to  Dr.  Cuyler 
by  the  members  of  his  church,  being  the  last 
incident  of  the  great  jubilee  by  which  his  con- 
gregation has  been  celebrating  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  his  coming  among  them.  By 
the  Doctor's  side,  smiling  and  looking  more 
like  a  bride  than  a  lady  who  had  been  married 
more  than  thirty  years,  was  his  faithful  wife. 
She  was  clad  in  white  silk  surah,  and  her 
youthful  appearance  was  remarkable.  She 
looked  even  happier  than  he,  and  both  looked 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  IO3 

happier,  if  that  were  possible,  than  the  people 
who  were  about  them.  On  every  side  the 
Doctor  saw  how  strongly  his  old  friends  from 
far  and  near  had  mustered.  There  were  Dr. 
McCosh,  the  President  of  Princeton ;  Rev. 
Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs,  a  Congregational  brother, 
and  after  them  a  train  of  notables  so  long  that 
only  a  few  can  be  mentioned :  Mayor  Low, 
Judge  Reynolds,  Colonel  John  Y.  Culyer  and 
Mrs.  Culyer,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  Irenaeus  Prime,  Judge 
Birdseye,  ex-Judge  Morris  and  daughters,  W. 
W.  Goodrich,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  H.  Hough- 
taling,  Samuel  Morris,  Secretary  of  the  Brook- 
lyn Sunday-school  Union ;  Rev.  F.  H.  Mar- 
ling, of  New  York ;  Edwin  P.  Ide,  Peter  Car- 
ter, of  New  York ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  A.  Rich- 
ardson,  C.  D.  Wood,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Curran 
Dinsmore,  George  V.  Brower,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Valentine  Snedeker,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  S.  T.  Dau- 
chy,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benjamin  Stevens,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Michael  Snow,  Mr.  S.  E.  Warner, 
editor  of  the  Christian  at  Work;  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  F.  H.  Wing,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph 
Fahys,   Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  L.  Pease,  Mr. 


104  HISTORY  OF  THE 

and  Mrs.  F.  W.  Jessup,  Rev.  Dr.  Field,  of  the 
New  York  Evangelist ;  Andrew  Smith,  Henry 

C.  Bowen,  Rev.  Dr.  B.  B.  Tyler,  of  New 
York ;  Rev.  Dr.  Hathaway,  of  Jersey  City ; 
wife  and  daughter ;  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  S.  Rob- 
inson, of  New  York  Memorial  Presbyterian 
Church  ;  Mr.  John  N.  Stearns,  Correspond- 
ing Secretary  of  the  National  Temperance 
Society ;  Rev.  Dr.  Ludlow,  of  First  Place 
Presbyterian  Church,  Brooklyn ;  Rev.  Dr. 
Nelson,  of  Memorial  Church,  Brooklyn  ;  Rev. 
Augustus  Prichard,  of  Dutchess  County ; 
Rev.  Dr.  Young,  Rev.  Dr.  Dey,  Rev.  Dr. 
Schaff,  the  famous  translator  of  Scripture  ;  A. 

D.  Matthews,  Robert  Collier,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Edwin  Packard,  Hon.  Darwin  R.  James,  A. 
A.  Smith,  Rev.  D.  Stuart  Dodge,  of  New 
York  ;  Rev.  A.  J.  F.  Behrends,  of  Central 
Congregational  Church,  Brooklyn ;  Rev. 
Howard  Crosby,  of  New  York  ;  Mr.  Edward 
C.  Seymour,  Principal  of  the  Academic  De- 
partment of  the  Polytechnic  Institute  ;  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  D.  W.  Fish,  Hon.  A.  P.  Higgins, 
Rev.  Frank  Chaffee,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  Wells,  Rev. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  I05 

Dr.  Bowden,  Mr.  William  J.  Coombs,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Henry  R.  Jones,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A. 
H.  Porter,  Mr.  Barlow  Stevens,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
John  R.  Dayton,  Mr.  Clinton  Rossiter,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Young  People's  Association,  and 
wife ;  Counselor  Henry  Sanger  Snow,  Dr. 
Harrison  Teller,  Colonel  William  Everdell, 
and  Grenville  Perrin.  Mr.  W.  R.  Hough- 
taling,  a  son  of  Mr.  D.  H.  Houghtaling,  and 
the  subject  of  Dr.  Cuyler's  first  baptism  in 
Lafayette  Avenue  Church,  was  present  with 
his  wife.  Two  of  the  three  young  men  of  the 
congregation  who  called  upon  Dr.  Cuyler  over 
twenty-five  years  ago  at  his  Market  Street 
study — Mr.  Henry  Mumford  and  Mr.  John 
E.  Miller — were  present  to  congratulate  him. 
The  third  of  these,  Mr.  Frank  H.  Knapp,  is 
also  living,  but  at  present  is  out  of  the  city. 
These  gentlemen,  although  strangers,  with  one 
exception,  to  him,  will  never  forget  the  warm 
and  hearty  reception  given  them  by  Dr.  Cuy- 
ler on  that  occasion,  and  how  overjoyed  they 
were  to  hear  from  his  lips  expressions  which 
indicated  that  he  regarded  this  call  as  the  first 
5* 


I06  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Step  in  the  direction  of  a  formal  call  to  this  (to 
him)  new  field  of  labor,  of  which  he  said  he 
had  remotely  heard  as  a  promising  one,  while 
the  only  hope  they  had  on  entering  his  study 
was  to  get  him  to  preach  a  few  times  for  them. 

After  the  hand-shakings  and  the  greetings 
were  over,  the  people  from  the  parlors  flowed 
into  the  church  and  overflowed  its  seats,  and 
listened  with  eager  attention  and  exuberantly 
manifested  interest  to  addresses  and  instru- 
mental music  and  songs  till  eleven  o'clock  had 
slipped  by.  The  songs  were  classic  selections, 
well  rendered  by  Miss  Alice  Maude  Whitacre, 
soprano  ;  Miss  Emma  Wilkinson,  contralto  ; 
Mr.  Charles  H.  Thompson,  tenor;  and  Mr. 
Mark  H.  Burch,  bass.  Mr.  John  H.  Brewer, 
organist,  played  the  accompaniments. 

Mr.  William  W.  Wickes  took  the  chair 
shortly  before  nine  o'clock,  and  no  time  was 
wasted  in  preliminaries. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  10/ 


EXERCISES   ON   MONDAY   EVEN- 
ING—April  6,  1885. 

Mr.  William  W.  Wickes  presided  over  the  meeting, 
and  called  upon  Reverend  Thomas  A.  Nelson  to  lead 
in  prayer. 

Prayer  of  Rev.  Mr.  Nelson. 

Almighty  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  it  is 
fitting  that  we  should  come  at  the  beginning 
of  these  pleasant  services  and  recognize  Thy 
sympathy  in  the  joy  of  the  hour.  We  feel  as 
we  come  to-night  to  pay  honor  to  our  brother 
that  we  should  put  our  hearts  in  sympathy 
with  Thine  own,  which  has  richly  manifested 
toward  him  Thy  divine  faith  and  blessing. 
We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  seen  fit  in 
Thy  providence  to  spare  him  during  these 
long  years  of  usefulness,  and  that  Thou  hast 
given  him  some  of  Thy  divine  power,  without 
which  his  ministry  must  have  failed.  We 
thank  Thee  for  these  long  years  of  useful  and 
successful  service,  in  which  he  has  been  per- 


I08  HISTORY   OF  THE 

mitted  to  honor  Thee,  and  has  been  an  instru- 
ment in  Thy  hand  to  help  and  to  bring  salva- 
tion to  many  souls.  We  thank  Thee  that 
during  his  ministry,  he  has  preached  the  Gos- 
pel with  no  uncertain  sound.  We  thank  Thee 
that  Thou  hast  enabled  him  to  warn  men  from 
the  evil  of  their  ways,  and  hast  enabled  him  to 
speak  words  of  comfort,  of  inspiration,  and  of 
hope  day  after  day.  We  thank  Thee  that  his 
ministry  has  been  a  ministry  of  comfort,  a  min- 
istry of  inspiration,  and  a  ministry  of  hope. 
We  thank  Thee  that  many  through  the  words 
he  has  spoken  have  been  brought  out  of  dark- 
ness into  light,  from  the  bondage  of  sin  into 
the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 
We  thank  Thee  that  he  has  been  permitted 
after  these  long  years  to  celebrate  the  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  of  his  pastorate  ;  and  as  we 
join  our  hearts  with  his  in  giving  thanksgiving 
and  praise  unto  Thee,  who  art  the  source  of 
that  joy  in  which  we  share  at  this  time,  we 
would  recognize  the  fact  that  without  Thy 
aid  and  without  Thy  blessing,  all  anniversaries 
must  come  to  naught ;  and  we  would  recognize 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE  CHURCH.  IO9 

that  the  fact  that  he  has  labored  continuously 
with  so  much  success  is  a  manifestation  of  the 
favor  of  Almighty  God.  We  thank  Thee  for 
this  testimony  to  men  that  Thou  hast  given  of 
Thy  favor  toward  this  faithful  ministry.  We 
pray  Thee,  Almighty  God,  that  these  years 
which  have  gone  by  may  be  suggestive  of  the 
success  and  blessing  which  Thou  wilt  grant 
him  in  the  years  to  come.  Grant  that  he  may 
be  supported  by  Thee,  and  enabled  for  many 
years  yet  to  speak  words  full  of  life  and  power 
and  comfort.  We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast 
dealt  so  kindly  with  him.  We  thank  Thee  that 
Thou  hast  effectually  prepared  him  for  the  work. 
We  bless  Thee  even  for  the  dispensations  of  Thy 
providence  sent  upon  him  from  time  to  time, 
v/hich  have  made  him  at  all  times  able  to  sym- 
pathize in  that  anguish  which  comes  sooner  or 
later  to  all  human  hearts.  We  thank  Thee 
that  he  has  come  out  of  the  fire  of  these  expe- 
riences full  of  sympathy  for  those  that  sorrow  ; 
and  able  to  speak  words  of  light  and  power. 
We  thank  Thee  not  only  for  his  ministry  in 
this  church  and  in  this  city  ;  but  that  he  has 


no  HISTORY  OF  THE 

been  enabled  to  reach  many  unknown  and 
unregistered  hearts  to  whom  he  has  brought 
the  word  of  life  and  inspiration  through  the 
printed  page.  We  thank  Thee  that  the  words 
spoken  from  this  pulpit  and  the  words  which 
have  dropped  from  his  pen  have  gone  out 
through  all  parts  of  the  world,  in  the  great 
cities  and  quiet  nooks  of  the  country,  not  only 
of  this  land,  but  of  all  Christian  lands,  adminis- 
tering consolation,  power,  and  strength.  We 
ask  Thee,  Almighty  God,  to  join  in  the  services 
of  this  hour,  and  that  Thy  richest  blessings 
may  be  upon  us  all.  Make  it  an  occasion  of 
comfort  and  joy  to  him  in  whose  honor  we 
gather  here.  Grant  him  peace  and  happiness 
in  his  family,  and  may  his  ministry  in  the  fu- 
ture, as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  be  blessed  by 
Thee  ;  and  that  he  may  be  made  an  instru- 
ment in  Thy  hands  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 
And  when  at  last  his  work  is  done,  we  pray 
Thee  that  Thou  wilt  grant  unto  him  and  us 
membership  in  the  Church  of  God  on  high, 
where  with  that  vast  multitude  of  the  redeemed, 
we  may  join  in  ascribing  honor,  dominion,  pow- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  Ill 

er,  and  glory,  unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the 
throne  and  unto  the  Lamb.  Unto  Father, 
Son,  and  Spirit  we  will  give  all  praise  in  the 
world  without  end.     Amen. 

Mr.  Wickes  then  read  the  following  letters,  selected 
from  the  large  number  received  by  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"  Philadelphia,  i  p.m.,  Monday. 
'*  To  Rev.  T.  L.  Cuyler  : 

"  The  Ministers'  Association  of  Philadelphia,  at 
their  meeting  this  morning,  by  a  unanimous  and 
hearty  vote,  recognizing  the  jubilee  which  your 
church  holds  to-night,  directed  me  to  convey  to 
you  their  affectionate  congratulations.  The  breth- 
ren rejoice  and  give  thanks  with  your  people  and 
with  your  friends  in  all  the  churches  for  your  long, 
honored,  and  useful  ministry. 

"William  G.  Cattell." 


"Union  Theological  Seminary, 

''Aj^ri/  I,  1885. 
"  My  dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"  Probably  not  very  many  of  your  present  congre- 
gation belonged  to  it  in  the  early  days  of  my  tem- 


112  HISTORY   OF  THE 

porary  service  there.  But  identity  does  not  depend 
upon  individual  members.  Lafayette  Avenue  Church 
is  a  kind  of  imperishable  personality,  which  I  now 
beg  to  salute  most  fervently.  Were  it  possible,  I 
should  certainly  be  present  on  an  occasion  of  so 
much  interest  to  you  all. 

"  I  congratulate  you,  my  brother,  on  these  five 
and  twenty  years  of  a  ministry  so  earnest,  so  diver- 
sified, and  so  fruitful.  Few  men  have  harvested  so 
many  sheaves,  few  men  are  so  sincerely  loved  and 
trusted  by  those  whose  love  and  trust  are  always  so 
dearly  bought.  The  longer  one  lives  and  works  in 
a  world  like  this,  the  less  he  cares  to  be  admired, 
and  the  more  he  cares  to  be  confided  in.  God  bless 
you  on  and  on  ! 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"  RoswELL  D.  Hitchcock." 

After  some  instrumental  music,  Mr.  John  N.  Beach, 
on  behalf  of  the  church,  delivered  the  following 
address  : 


Address  of  Mr.  John  N.   Beach. 

When  the  order  of  exercises  for  this  even- 
ing's reception  was  first  under  discussion,  and 
the  question  arose, "  Of  what  shall  the  exercises 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  II3 

of  the  evening  consist  ?  "  one  of  the  committee 
suggested  that,  true  to  the  innate  and  undying 
instincts  of  the  American  people,  provision 
must  of  necessity  be  made  for  speech-making  ; 
and  to  me,  sir,  has  been  delegated  the  very 
pleasing  duty  of  briefly  addressing  you  at  this 
time,  and  a  real  pleasure  it  is,  my  pastor, — 
only  marred  by  a  consciousness  of  my  inability 
to  perform  aright  the  part  assigned  to  me. 
You  are  to-night,  sir,  surrounded  by  your 
people,  by  your  brother  clergymen,  by  your 
friends  and  by  your  neighbors,  who  are  here 
to  extend  to  you  a  very  cordial  greeting  and 
hand-shaking  upon  this,  the  twenty-fifth  anni- 
versary of  your  pastorate  of  the  Lafayette 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  of  Brooklyn. 
And  while  we  congratulate  you  that  it  hath 
pleased  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  to  grant 
unto  you  this  long  and  successful  pastorate, 
that  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  you  have  been 
permitted  to  go  in  and  out  before  this  people 
and  proclaim  to  them  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  this  is  still  your  priv- 
ilege— while,  sir,  we  do  thus  heartily  congrat- 


114  HISTORY   OF  THE 

ulate  you,  we  feel  that  we,  your  people,  are 
the  rather  to  be  congratulated  that  we  are 
permitted  to  enjoy  your  faithful  ministry,  that 
we  are  favored  with  your  kind,  loving  admo- 
nitions, with  your  valuable  counsel  and  advice, 
that  from  time  to  time  we  may  welcome  you 
to  our  homes  and  our  hearthstones,  and  there 
share  with  you  the  cherished  delights  of  social 
intercourse.  When  trouble  has  invaded  our 
homes,  when  sickness  has  been  there — ay, 
when  the  crape  has  been  upon  the  door,  in 
token  of  the  heart-rending  sorrow  within,  with 
what  profound  gratitude  do  we  to-night  recall 
your  words  and  deeds  of  tender,  loving  sym- 
pathy, and  the  fidelity  with  which  you  have 
been  wont  to  point  us  to  the  God  of  all  con- 
solation, in  whose  faithful  service  you  do  ever 
so  truly  delight.  And  not  only  are  we,  your 
people,  to  be  congratulated,  but  this  whole 
city  of  Brooklyn,  that  here  it  has  been  your 
lot  to  live  and  labor  ;  and  it  is  eminently  fit- 
ting that  His  Honor,  the  Mayor  of  the  city, 
should  favor  this  occasion  with  his  presence 
and  eloquent  voice,  which  you  are  soon  to 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  II5 

hear,  and  thus  evince  his  appreciation  of  your 
life-work  in  our  midst.  Honored  sir,  I  am 
persuaded  there  is  not  a  ward,  there  is  hardly 
a  block,  I  had  almost  said  there  is  hardly  a 
home  in  Brooklyn,  this  city,  over  which  you 
are  called  to  preside,  that  is  not  the  better  to- 
night for  the  godly  precepts  and  the  godly  ex- 
ample of  him  in  whose  honor  we  are  here  as- 
sembled. And  this  goodly  city  of  Brooklyn 
by  no  means  defines  his  influence.  Go  where 
you  may,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  this  land,  cross  the  seas  into  foreign  lands, 
enter  any  city,  village,  or  hamlet,  yea,  visit 
many  a  humble  home  upon  the  mountain-side 
or  in  the  lowly  valley,  and  there  you  will  find 
have  preceded  you  the  winged  words  of  wise 
counsel  and  of  earnest  Christian  exhortation, 
as  they  have  gone  forth  from  his  prolific  pen. 
It  is  with  downright  honest  pride  that  we  re- 
call the  fact  that  there  is  not  a  living  preacher 
in  this  country,  or  any  other,  who  has  contrib- 
uted so  liberally  to  the  religious  press  as  this 
our  own  beloved  pastor.  It  is  to  you,  sir,  a 
subject   for   sincere    congratulation  that   the 


Il6  HISTORY   OF  THE 

number  of  copies  of  your  articles,  as  issued 
from  the  press  of  this  country  and  Europe, 
will  aggregate  not  less  than  one  hundred  mil- 
lions. Says  London's  g-reat  preacher,  Mr. 
Spurgeon,  in  a  review  of  your  writings,  ''  For 
sentences  that  strike  and  stick,  for  gems  that 
gleam  and  glow,  for  thoughts  that  thrill,  com- 
mend us  to  our  American  friend.  Dr.  Cuyler." 
And  now,  sir,  as  you  have  rounded  the  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  of  your  pastorate  here,  and 
as  you  are  about  to  enter  upon  a  well-earned 
respite  from  its  wonted  cares  and  responsibili- 
ties, as  we  shall  soon  speak  to  you  our  farewell 
words,  and  you  may  set  sail  for  foreign  climes, 
wherever  you  go,  be  assured  there  will  go  with 
you  the  prayers,  the  best  wishes  of  a  loving, 
loyal,  united  people,  together  with  the  fervent 
hope  that  you  may  in  due  time  be  restored  to 
us  rejoicing  in  health  and  vigor  and  refitted 
for  your  labors  of  love  among  us.  In  a  little 
time  after  you  shall  have  left  us  will  recur  the 
annual  migration  of  our  people — some  to  so- 
journ at  the  seaside,  some  to  flee  to  the 
mountains,    some   may   join   you   in   foreign 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  II7 

lands,  others  will  tarry  here ;  but  we  trust 
that  when  come  the  early  autumnal  days,  we 
may  all  have  been  spared  to  return  hither  to 
enjoy  anew  the  endearing  relations  of  pastor 
and  people.  May  Heaven's  richest  blessings 
rest  upon  and  abide  with  you  and  with  yours  ; 
may  you  long  live  to  enjoy  the  work  to  which 
you  have  given  your  life,  to  which,  indeed, 
you  were  in  your  very  infancy  dedicated  by 
your  venerable  mother,  and  in  which  you  have 
won  so  honorable  a  place.  And  by  and  by, 
when  the  feet  grow  weary,  when  the  eyes 
grow  dim,  and  the  evening  shadows  gather 
about  you,  there  will  come  to  you,  my  pastor, 
that  glorious  message,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of 
my  Father,  inherit  the  Kingdom  prepared  for 
you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  ;  for  I 
was  an  hungered  and  ye  gave  me  meat ;  I  was 
thirsty  and  ye  gave  me  drink.  Inasmuch  as 
ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these 
my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 

Mr.  Wickes  introduced  the  Hon.  Seth  Low,  as  fol- 
lows : 
I  need  hardly  introduce  to  you  one  whose  face  is 


Il8  HISTORY   OF  THE 

SO  familiar  to  you,  and  whose  administration  of  our 
city  is  so  able  as  that  of  our  Chief  Magistrate,  His 
Honor,  Mayor  Low. 

Mayor  Low's  Address. 
Ladies    and    gentlemen,    friends    and 

WELL-WISHERS  OF    Dr.   CuYLER  AND    OF    MrS. 

CuYLER : — I  am  glad  to  be  with  you  on  this 
happy  occasion.  Will  you  pardon  me  if  I  try 
to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  occasion  by  tell- 
ing you  a  personal  incident.  When  I  was 
first  elected  Mayor  of  Brooklyn,  I  received  a 
letter  in  a  handwriting  that  has  since  become 
familiar  to  me — the  handwriting  of  Dr.  Cuy- 
ler,  whom  up  to  that  time  I  had  never  met 
personally.  He  asked  if  he  might  venture 
upon  the  privilege  of  an  old  man  addressing  a 
young  one  in  order  to  give  a  piece  of  advice. 
The  words  containing  this  advice  were  these  : 
"  Never  be  afraid,  Mr.  Mayor,  of  offending 
individuals — no  matter  what  you  do,  you  must 
offend  some  ;  but  be  very  careful  that  you 
never  offend  the  common  sense  of  the  com- 
munity at  large."     If  Dr.  Cuyler   has  been 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  II9 

preaching  such  doctrine  as  that  for  twenty- 
five  years  in  this  Lafayette  Avenue  Church,  I 
do  not  wonder  that  this  church  and  this  pul- 
pit have  been  such  a  source  of  power.  I  never 
got  better  advice  than  that  from  any  pubHc 
man,  not  even  from  the  politicians.  I  read  in 
the  paper  this  morning  that  twenty-five  years 
ago,  when  Dr.  Cuyler  was  considering  the  call 
extended  to  him  by  this  congregation  to  come 
to  Brooklyn,  he  came  over  here  and  surveyed 
the  ground,  and  he  made  up  his  mind  that  this 
was  the  centre,  or  to  be  the  centre,  of  a  great 
population.  I  do  not  mean  to  imply,  far  be 
it  from  me,  that  it  seems  a  wonderful  thing  to 
the  select  men  who  live  in  this  part  of  the 
town  in  these  days  that  Dr.  Cuyler  should 
have  such  faith  in  the  future  of  this  neighbor- 
hood ;  but  you  must  remember  that  he  looked 
with  the  eye  of  an  outsider,  and  that  in  order 
to  get  here  he  had  to  come  by  the  way  of 
Brooklyn  Heights.  Yet  I  do  believe,  how- 
ever, that  that  sagacity  that  convinced  him 
that  this  would  be  the  centre  of  Brooklyn  has 
been  among  the  elements  that  have  made  him 


120  HISTORY   OF   THE 

SO  useful  a  man  in  the  city  at  large,  not  to 
speak  of  this  congregation  only,  because  as  it 
has  been  well  said  by  others  to-night,  the  in- 
fluence of  Dr.  Cuyler  is  not  limited  by  the 
walls  of  this  church  or  by  this  congregation. 
It  is  fitting  that  the  Mayor  should  be  here  to 
say  that  the  whole  community,  that  the  whole 
city  is  better,  and  that  the  population  is  more 
liberal  because  he  has  dwelt  and  spoken  in  our 
midst. 

I  doubt  whether  Dr.  Cuyler,  in  his  prophetic 
vision,  conceived  that  the  centre  of  population 
should  be  even  beyond  this  spot.  I  doubt 
whether  his  prophetic  soul,  in  this  vision,  saw 
large  numbers  of  our  population  hanging  like 
grapes  in  a  bunch,  on  the  end  of  a  street-car, 
as  most  of  you  have  witnessed  night  and 
morning.  If  he  did,  I  would  like  him  to 
preach  upon  this  text.  I  think  you  will  recog- 
nize it  as  the  only  purely  municipal  text  of 
Scripture,  "  There  shall  be  no  complaining  in 
our  streets."  If  I  might  be  allowed  to  say  a 
word  for  my  friend,  the  Commissioner  of 
Public  Works,  I  might  ask   him   to  read  the 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  121 

text,  as  follows :  **  There  shall  be  no  com- 
plaining about  our  streets."  As  I  think  of  the 
old-fashioned  methods  of  transportation,  upon 
which,  up  to  this  time,  our  people  have  de- 
pended, it  will  encourage  you  to  know  that 
to-day,  on  this  anniversary  day,  the  Mayor  of 
your  city  took  the  first  ride  in  an  elevated 
steam-car  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn  that  any 
Mayor  has  had  the  privilege  of  doing.  And 
inasmuch  as  Dr.  Cuyler's  coming  here,  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  was  the  commencement  of  a 
new  era  then,  so  I  trust  this  anniversary  day 
may  mark  the  commencement  of  a  new  era  of 
public  progress  in  our  city. 

I  think  that  Dr.  Cuyler's  faith  in  the  future 
of  this  city  has  been  a  great  element  in  his 
usefulness  as  a  citizen.  Some  people,  all  the 
time,  are  finding  fault  with  things  as  they  are, 
and  yet  never  doing  anything  to  remedy  them. 
But  such  was  not  the  case  with  Dr.  Cuyler — ■ 
the  faith  that  brought  him  here  caused  him  to 
help  us  work  for  the  good  of  our  city.  This 
spirit  makes  a  good  citizen  of  any  man,  whether 
he  is  a  layman  or  a  minister.     We  want  more 


122  HISTORY   OF  THE 

men  of  that  spirit  in  Brooklyn.  Dr.  Cuyler, 
it  seems  to  me,  has  always  had  this  power 
when  his  pen  has  written  or  his  tongue  has 
spoken — the  power  behind  the  words  of  a  sin- 
cere, honest,  and  genuine  man.  It  is  the  only 
power  that  I  know  of  that  will  take  words  to 
the  ends  of  the  world.  I  like  to  think  that  in 
the  old  day  when  this  church  was  built  and 
this  country  was  in  peril,  from  the  roof  of  this 
church  the  flag  of  our  country  went  up  upon 
the  unfinished  tower  and  stayed  there  until 
the  church  was  built  and  until  the  war  was 
ended.  I  like  a  Christianity  that  can  ally  it- 
self with  love  of  country.  I  like  a  love  of 
country  that  finds  its  best  expression  in  Chris- 
tian devotion.  This  power  and  this  love  of 
country  has  been  one  of  the  strong  elements 
in  Dr.  Cuyler's  ministry  among  us.  This 
whole  city  is  your  debtor,  and  has  been  for 
many  years.  Now,  Dr.  Cuyler,  will  you  allow 
me,  sir,  as  one  who  feels  himself  personally 
your  debtor,  to  congratulate  you  and  Mrs. 
Cuyler  on  the  happy  events  of  this  day.  I 
congratulate  you  that  you  can  look  backward 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  I23 

over  SO  long  a  life  of  successful  work.  And 
particularly  to  congratulate  you  that  you  have 
found  a  home  in  the  hearts  of  the  whole  peo- 
ple of  Brooklyn. 

Mr.  Wickes  then  read  the  following  extracts  from 
letters  to  Dr.  Cuyler. 

"23  Beacon  Street,  Boston,  April  3,  1885. 

"  Dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"I  hope  you  will  accept,  on  your  twenty- fifth  an- 
niversary, a  word  of  reverent  and  extremely  earnest 
congratulation  from  one  who  has  for  many  years 
been  indebted  to  your  public  writing  on  reforms 
for  so  much  of  instruction  and  inspiration  that  in  a 
large  number  of  particulars  he  has  been  your  pupil. 

"  Most  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

"Joseph  Cook." 


"Danvers,  Mass.,  3d,  24th,  1885. 
"  W.  W.  Goodrich  : 

"  Dear  Friend : — I  would  have  been  glad  to  have 
put  into  verse  an  expression  of  my  loving  regard  for 
Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  but  I  find  it  difficult  at  this 
time  to  do  justice  to  him  or  to  myself. 


124  HISTORY   OF  THE 

"I  must  not,  however,  let  this  opportunity  pass 
without  saying,  that  few  of  his  own  church  can  feel 
a  heartier  sympathy  or  a  warmer  attachment  to  Dr. 
Cuyler  than  myself.  I  have  known  him  for  many 
years,  and  have  found  him  always  on  the  right  side 
of  every  question  affecting  human  welfare,  an  out- 
spoken friend  of  Liberty  and  Temperance — a  man 
of  decided  convictions,  but  tolerant  of  everything 
but  sin  and  meanness — in  one  word,  a  Christian 
gentleman.  I  suppose  that  he  and  I  might  differ  in 
some  of  our  views,  but  if  I  can  not  endorse  his  creed 
I  can  cheerfully  endorse  him.  I  am  glad,  amid  the 
congratulations  that  will  reach  him,  to  add  my  own 
heartfelt  wishes  for  his  health  and  happiness. 
"  Thy  friend, 

"  John  G.  Whittier." 


"  Newark,  N.  J.,  April  3,  1885. 
"  My  dear  and  honored  Brother  : 

"  Our  personal  acquaintance  does  not  cover  the 
whole  period  of  your  ministry  in  Brooklyn,  but  my 
recollection  of  your  face  and  voice  and  manner  goes 
beyond  it.  I  heard  you  first  (I  do  not  remember  the 
year)  in  an  anniversary  address  in  the  old  Broadway 
Tabernacle.  I  fell  in  love  with  you  there.  The 
passion  has  been  growing  ever  since.  I  was  then 
struck  with  the  youthful  freshness  and  beauty  of 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  12$ 

your  person  and  manner,  and  with  the  Christian 
simplicity  and  earnestness  of  your  words.  Since 
that  time  I  have  followed  you  in  all  your  rich  and 
varied  life-work,  whether  in  the  pulpit,  on  the  plat- 
form, or  through  the  press.  I  have  appreciated  the 
intellectual  activity  and  power,  and  equally  the 
never  flagging  spiritual  fervor  which  you  have  car- 
ried into  all  departments  of  Christian  work.  Your 
faith  and  courage  proved  equal  to  all  occasions  ; 
your  life  in  private  and  in  your  official  work  has 
been  so  healthful  and  so  true  to  Christ,  that  it  has 
won  you  friendship  and  confidence  everywhere,  and 
has  made  your  name  a  household  word  all  over  your 
own  and  other  English-speaking  lands.  It  is  surely 
worth  the  while  to  have  lived  and  labored  and  even 
suffered  to  accomplish  all  this.  God  bless  you,  my 
beloved  brother,  and  give  you  to  fill  up  gloriously, 
in  faith  and  patience,  the  full  measure  of  earthly 
labor  assigned  you.  Then  the  translation  and  the 
*  joy  of  your  Lord.' 

"  Now  and  always  very  faithfully  yours, 

*'  Ray  Palmer." 


**  Chicago,  April  4,  1885. 
"  My  dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"  I  trust  I  am  not  too  late  to  fling  my  congratula- 
tions into  the  midst  of  the  silver  shower  that  is  to 


126  HISTORY  OF  THE 

be  your  tribute  on  Monday  evening.  You  have 
preached  God's  blessed  truth  right  royally  and  loy- 
ally through  all  these  years.  The  entire  church  has 
come  to  feel  that  no  uncertain  sound  would  ever 
come  from  the  Lafayette  Avenue  pulpit  while  T.  L. 
C.  thundered  and  reasoned  and  pleaded  and  prayed. 
God  bless  you,  dear  old  friend.  May  this  silver  an- 
niversary be  a  blessed  experience  and  a  precious 
memory  !  May  the  silver  hairs  be  an  increasingly 
beautiful  *  crown  of  glory  '!  May  the  silver  speech 
win  many  more  victories  yet  for  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ !  May  the  silver  trumpet  ring  out  long  for 
God  and  Truth  !  And  when  the  silver  cord  is  loosed 
and  you  at  last  leave  Lafayette  Avenue  Church 
militant,  to  go  to  the  *  land  that  is  fairer  than  day,* 
and  there  meet  those  who  constitute  Lafayette  Ave- 
nue Church  triumphant,  oh,  what  a  welcome  will  be 

given  you  ! 

"  Yours  in  toil  and  love, 

"  Herrick  Johnson." 

Duet, — Misses  Whitacre  and  Wilkinson. 

Mr.  Wickes  thus  presented  the  next  speaker  : — I 
wish,  though  it  is  unnecessary,  to  introduce  to  you 
him  who  was  my  own  pastor  more  than  twenty-five 
years  ago,  previous  to  my  removal  to  this  portion 
of  the  city.  His  ministry  in  one  church  in  this  city 
has  extended  over  a  larger  number  of  years  than 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  12/ 

that  of  Dr.  Cuyler.   I  am  sure  that  you  desire  to  have 
his  testimony.     Rev.  Dr.  Storrs.     (Great  applause.) 

Address  of  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs. 

You  must  not  take  this  out  of  my  time.  I 
am  heartily  glad  to  be  able  to  be  with  you, 
my  dear  friends,  this  evening.  It  is  not  only 
a  great  pleasure,  but  a  great  honor  to  receive 
an  invitation  from  you  to  so  pleasant  a  gather- 
ing. I  have  a  reminiscence  that  goes  back  of 
the  twenty-five  years  which  close  this  evening. 
I  think  it  must  have  been  in  the  early  summer 
of  1847,  that  I  first  met  our  honored  and  be- 
loved friend,  your  pastor.  It  was  in  this  city 
at  the  house  of  a  kinswoman  of  his  then  living 
on  Willoughby  Street.  He  was  located  at  that 
time  in  Jersey,  perhaps  at  Burlington.  He 
was  six  months  younger  than  I  was.  I  had 
been  settled  a  year  and  a  half.  I  was  married 
and  had  a  child  who  was  the  joy  of  my  life  ; 
he  was  but  little  more  than  a  moiety  of  a  man, 
a  bachelor,  but  I  think  with  hopes,  desires,  and 
designs  in  the  same  direction.  So  I  took  a 
kind  of  fatherly  interest  in  him.     I  remember 


128  HISTORY   OF  THE 

perfectly  his  lithe  and  active  figure,  his  ani- 
mated face,  and  his  power  of  fervent  and  per- 
spicuous expression  of  thought ;  and  his  en- 
thusiasm in  his  work  and  his  anticipation  of 
success  in  it.  I  said  to  myself  at  the  time 
(and  I  remember  it  as  if  it  were  but  yesterday), 
here  is  a  man  who  will  be  prominent,  useful, 
and  influential  in  the  community,  if  his  life 
continues.  After  that  I  had  not  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  him  personally  for  a  number  of 
years,  until  as  Dr.  Palmer  has  said  of  himself, 
I  heard  him  in  the  old  Broadway  Tabernacle, 
which  at  that  time  was  the  scene  of  some  of 
the  most  stirring  and  animated  discourses  ever 
heard  on  any  rostrum  in  this  country.  I  heard 
him  there  in  several  speeches,  in  all  of  which 
there  was  much  of  pathos,  humor,  and  elo- 
quence in  utterance,  and  fine  and  powerful 
thought,  which  swept  the  audience  with  it  to 
the  end.  And  my  first  impression  was  only 
deepened  and  revived.  It  was  so  far  revived 
that  I  strongly  urged  him  to  come  and  be- 
come the  pastor  of  a  Congregational  church 
in  Brooklyn,  using  personal  persuasion  to  that 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  1 29 

end,  which  I  have  never  done  except  in  one 
or  two  cases.  He  did  not  assent  to  the  prop- 
osition, thinking,  I  suppose,  that  God  had 
something  better  in  store  for  him,  which  ap- 
peared when  he  came  to  this  Lafayette  Ave- 
nue Church. 

How  fast  time  flies  in  the  occupied  life  of 
any  man  !  Almost  exactly  half  the  lifetime 
of  this  city  has  passed  since  Dr.  Cuyler  came 
here.  I  think  Dr.  Van  Dyke  was  the  only 
Presbyterian  pastor  then  here  who  is  still 
here  in  this  part  of  town.  Dr.  Bethune  had 
gone  the  year  before.  Many  of  the  ministers 
living  here  at  that  time  have  removed  or 
ceased  active  labors  or  have  died.  I  think  I 
can  remember  some  of  them.  Dr.  Cutler  of 
St.  Ann's,  Dr.  Taylor  of  St.  Luke's,  and  Dr. 
Elmendorff  have  died,  and  others  whose  names 
I  do  not  recollect.  Dr.  Robinson,  Dr.  Bart- 
lett.  Dr.  French,  and  I  do  not  know  how  many 
others,  are  still  active  and  useful  in  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  but  have  removed  to  other 
places.   There  is  one  face  and  one  figure  which 

comes  before  my  mind  as  I  stand  here  to-night, 
6* 


130  HISTORY   OF  THE 

who  would  surely  have  been  present  here  on 
this  occasion,  if  he  had  been  living  still, — one 
of  whose  elevated  and  tender  eloquence  none 
of  us  need  to  be  reminded.  As  I  recollect  it 
I  feel  that  I  can  not  replace,  and  that  I  hardly 
dare  to  follow  it.  I  need  not  say  that  I  refer 
to  that  beloved  and  honored  and  eminent 
preacher,  one  of  the  noblest  men  that  ever 
lived,  who  hated  wickedness  and  loved  right- 
eousness as  intensely  as  any  man  could,  who 
went  from  the  cross  to  the  crown,  from  the 
fire  of  earth  to  the  heaven  above  when  he  had 
almost  completed  his  twenty-five  years  of  min- 
istry here,  more  than  five  years  ago, — Rev.  Dr. 
Budington.  His  long  work  here  side  by  side 
wi:h  Dr.  Cuyler  bred  no  jealousy  between 
them.  His  life  was  constant  and  true.  There 
is  to  me  a  benediction  in  the  thought  of  him 
to-night. 

Twenty-five  years  !  I  think  it  has  been  a 
wise  contentedness  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Cuyler 
to  remain  here.  I  think  it  has  shown  wisdom 
on  your  part  to  keep  him  here,  the  wisdom  at 
any  rate  of  knowing  a  good  thing  when  you 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  131 

have  it.  You  have  known  enough  to  make 
hay  while  the  sun  shone.  You  knew  enough 
not  to  try  to  stop  the  stream  turning  the  mill- 
wheels  and  carrying  the  water  of  life  into  your 
houses.  I  remember  a  friend  of  mine,  for  whose 
shrewdness  I  had  great  respect,  who  once  went 
into  a  warehouse  and  asked  if  they  had  any  fine 
tea.  "  Yes,  sir,"  said  the  merchant,  "  there  is 
some  of  the  best  tea  that  ever  comes  to  this 
country.  There  is  no  better  article  to  be  found 
on  this  continent.  It  is  the  best  to  be  found." 
"  Very  well,"  said  my  friend  ;  "  you  may  sell 
me  some.  I  am  not  particular  ;  the  best  that 
is  to  be  had  anywhere  is  always  good  enough 
for  me."  I  think  you  showed  that  wisdom. 
You  knew  when  you  had  the  best,  and  had  no 
desire  to  have  any  one  else.  That  is  a  wisdom 
that  congregations  do  not  always  have,  so  I 
compliment  you  upon  it,  and  I  congratulate 
you.  I  am  sure  also  that  Dr.  Cuyler  has 
shown  wisdom  in  tarrying  here.  I  have  great 
respect  for  permanence  in  the  ministry.  I  have 
been  brought  up  on  that  idea.  I  like  to  see 
permanence  in  the  ministry.     I  do  not  like  to 


132  HISTORY   OF  THE 

see  ministers  changing  from  congregation  to 
congregation.  I  think  the  limit  should  be 
about  eight  years  at  least.  (I  do  not  make 
this  exception  on  account  of  Dr.  Robinson's 
being  here,  as  he  perhaps  did  the  right  thing 
when  he  went  to  another  field  of  labor.)  I 
notice  ministers  getting  tired  and  wearied,  and 
thinking  it  is  time  to  make  a  change  when 
they  have  been  in  charge  of  a  congregation 
for  two  or  three  years.  Such  ministers  gen- 
erally remind  me  of  what  was  said  of  a  Scotch 
minister  (Dr.  McCosh  being  here  I  feel  at  lib- 
erty to  tell  a  Scotch  story).  One  Sabbath  a 
woman  came  into  the  kirk  a  little  late.  Now 
in  the  kirk,  a  man's  text  is  called  a  "  groun." 
The  good  woman  came  late,  as  I  have  said, 
and  the  minister  had  commenced  his  ser- 
mon. Accordingly  she  asked  another  woman, 
"Where's  his  groun.?"  "  His  groun,"  replied 
the  neighbor ;  "  he  lost  that  an  hour  ago,  an* 
he's  been  swimming  ever  since."  I  have  seen 
a  great  many  ministers  who  reminded  me  of 
that  story.  They  have  been  swimming  around 
from  place  to  place,  and  many  of  them  have 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  1 33 

had  hard  work  to  keep  afloat.  I  think  our 
brother  has  been  right  in  trying  to  keep  the 
same  ground,  and  I  think  you  have  been  wise 
in  keeping  him  here.  I  never  heard  of  any 
quarrels  in  this  church.  Very  likely  there  have 
been  some  Hills  of  Difficulty,  though  I  have 
never  heard  of  any  ;  but  I  am  certain  from 
what  I  know  of  Dr.  Cuyler  that  there  has  been 
no  Slough  of  Despond  where  he  has  been ; 
and  I  think  I  may  say  that  you  are  to-night 
on  one  of  the  lower  peaks  of  the  Delectable 
mountains,  from  which  you  can  look  backward 
and  forward  and  round  about.  I  rejoice  in  his 
continued  ministry.  I  think  it  is  an  element 
of  power  in  the  church  and  a  source  of  influ- 
ence in  the  community.  He  has  had  a  per- 
manent position  in  one  of  the  very  best  parts 
of  Brooklyn  ;  I  do  not  know  but  what  it  is  the 
best  part,  always  excepting  Brooklyn  Heights, 
with  which  no  other  part  of  Brooklyn  ever 
undertakes  to  be  compared.  I  do  not  quite 
agree  with  Dr.  Cuyler  in  his  idea  that  this  is 
to  be  or  is  the  centre  of  Brooklyn.  I  think 
the  centre  is  to  be  about  Lake  Ronkonkoma  ; 


134  HISTORY   OF  THE 

and  the  Long  Island  Railway  is  to  be  a  street 
railroad.  Shelter  Island  is  to  be  the  last  out- 
lying ward  of  Brooklyn.  In  fact,  half  of  my 
parish  are  there  in  the  summer-time  anyway. 
However,  he  came  as  near  as  any  man  with 
merely  human  foresight  could  at  that  time. 
Dr.  Cuyler  has  drawn  his  congregation  from 
the  great  homogeneous  population,  from  all 
classes  of  the  population,  which  makes  always 
the  true  strength  of  the  church.  He  has,  more- 
over, been  drawing  from  all  the  congregations 
of  Brooklyn.  As  your  presiding  officer  has 
said.  Dr.  Cuyler  took  him  from  my  congrega- 
tion, and  so  with  a  number  of  others.  And 
what  is  more  peculiar  is  that  they  never  want 
to  come  back,  and  they  always  think  they  did 
a  good  thing.  They  seem  to  like  the  new  min- 
ister and  the  new  church  better  than  the  old 
one.  They  have  rather  given  me  the  impres- 
sion that  their  judgment  has  greatly  deterio- 
rated in  the  change.  Still,  as  their  Christian 
activity  seemed  to  be  maintained,  I  never  quar- 
relled with  a  little  lapse  of  judgment  of  that 
sort.     This  permanence  in  the  ministry  not 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  1 35 

only  gives  additional  influence  in  society,  but 
it  also  gives  greater  weight  in  all  reforms  and 
in  all  moral  enterprises.  It  adds  to  the  per- 
sonal force  of  the  individual  man.  Dr.  Cuyler 
has  been  enabled  by  his  permanent  ministry 
here  to  carry  conviction  to  the  minds  of  many 
whom  he  would  otherwise  have  never  reached, 
and  to  carry  to  them  the  consolation,  truth, 
and  promised  hope  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

How  the  years  have  rolled  on  !  I  remem- 
ber very  distinctly  the  sense  of  great  age  which 
I  felt  when  a  man  bigger  than  I  brought  me 
a  babe  to  be  baptized,  and  as  he  was  present- 
ing the  child  it  flashed  across  my  mind  that 
when  the  father  was  baptized  I  had  taken  him 
in  my  arms  and  baptized  him.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  I  was  grandfather  to  the  whole  com- 
munity. That,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  was  ten  years 
ago. 

There  is  a  certain  power  in  permanence  in 
the  ministry  which  can  not  be  transferred  by 
Dr.  Cuyler  to  any  one  else.  You  can  not  lay 
the  mantle  of  Dr.  Cuyler  on  the  shoulder  ol 
any  other  man  v/ho  may  come  after  him,  and 


136  HISTORY  OF  THE 

he  can  not  transfer  it  to  any  other  field  of 
labor.  It  belongs  to  him  in  the  ministry  of 
this  church.  Then  also  by  reason  of  this  long 
residence,  he  has  the  recognized  rights  of  a 
permanent  citizen.  If  a  man  who  has  been 
here  only  two  or  three  years  speaks  on  public 
affairs,  he  hardly  gets  a  chance  to  be  heard. 
He  is  looked  upon  as  an  outsider,  and  his 
views  are  weighed  accordingly.  But  a  man 
who  has  lived  here  for  twenty-five  years,  who 
has  labored  here  for  the  good  of  the  commu- 
nity, is  able  to  exercise  a  weighty  influence  in 
civic  and  public  affairs.  This  power  comes 
from  permanence  in  the  ministry,  added,  of 
course,  to  the  vigor  and  spirit  which  accom- 
pany that  permanent  residence,  and  make  it 
effective. 

The  newspaper  articles  which  have  added  so 
much  to  Dr.  Cuyler's  fame  have  been  drawn 
largely  from  a  long  pastoral  experience.  I 
have  done  some  newspaper  work,  and  know 
how  difficult  it  is  to  do  it.  And  I  appreciate 
what  Dr.  Cuyler  has  done  in  this  work.  A 
great  many  of  his  articles  have  been  repub- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  1 37 

lished,  and  have  found  their  way  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  and  have  been  translated  into 
foreign  tongues.  I  have  seen  some  of  his  arti- 
cles pasted  in  a  scrap-book  that  came  into  my 
possession.  A  member  of  my  church  died 
some  years  ago,  and  I  found  in  her  work-basket 
three  or  four  articles  by  Dr.  Cuyler,  pinned 
together.  They  had  been  carefully  read  and 
meditated  and  prayed  over.  The  material  for 
these  articles  has  been  derived  from  long  pas- 
toral experience.  A  conception  of  the  Gospel, 
a  practical  conception  of  the  Gospel  as  a  di- 
vine message,  interest  in  the  individual  spirits 
to  which  that  message  is  to  come,  and  familiar- 
ity with  the  varying  modes  of  life  of  the  men 
to  which  that  message  is  to  come, — out  of 
these  spring  the  life  of  the  article.  Their 
power  has  been  generated  from  long  pastoral 
experience.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying 
that  the  influence  exerted  by  these  articles  has 
been  greater  than  that  which  has  sprung  from 
the  work  done  in  this  pulpit.  While  from  the 
pulpit  Dr.  Cuyler  has  been  able  to  reach  a 
limited  number,  his  words  by  means  of  these 


138  HISTORY   OF   THE 

articles  have  gone  all  over  the  earth.  I  think 
we  may  congratulate  him,  and  you  as  well,  on 
the  permanence  of  his  ministry  here. 

I  can  not  but  think  of  the  marvellous  changes 
which  have  taken  place  since  the  year  i860. 
They  read  like  a  chapter  in  a  romance.  We 
were  then  under  the  Presidency  of  Mr.  Buchan- 
an. Lincoln's  name  was  just  mentioned  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency.  The  Civil  War 
was  not  contemplated  by  anybody  as  possible. 
Slavery  was  established  in  the  seat  of  the  gov- 
ernment at  the  capital.  It  seemed  an  interest 
too  vast  to  be  successfully  attacked,  and  as  in- 
capable of  being  overthrown  by  discussion  or 
law  as  the  capitol  was  of  being  upset  and  over- 
turned by  the  force  of  the  wind.  We  had  no 
railroad  from  this  part  of  the  continent  to  the 
Pacific  coast.  San  Francisco  seemed  to  be  be- 
yond the  seas.  Though  we  had  a  telegraph 
line  on  the  land,  we  had  no  line  under  the  sea, 
for  although  one  had  been  attempted  to  be 
laid  in  1858,  it  gasped  and  sputtered  a  few  in- 
articulate sentences,  and  then  died.  It  was  not 
believed  at  that  time  that  any  such  line  would 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  1 39 

work  successfully.  During  this  time,  the  popu- 
lation of  this  country  has  wonderfully  increased ; 
and  the  wealth  of  the  country  has  increased 
still  more  wonderfully.  The  Civil  War  has 
come  and  gone.  Emancipation  has  loosed  the 
last  chain  from  the  limb  and  hand  of  the  slave  ; 
and  the  country  stands  magnified  and  made 
honorable  before  the  eyes  of  the  world.  The 
war  terminated  through  the  magnificent  leader- 
ship of  that  magnificent  silent  general,  who  is 
now  battling  with  death  over  there  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river.  There  is  one  enemy 
to  which  every  man  must  yield ;  but  if  it  were 
within  the  possibility  of  human  power  to  con- 
quer him,  that  strong  and  indomitable  will 
which  rimmed  the  rebel  capital  with  a  chain 
of  fire  and  crushed  the  rebel  hosts,  giving  lib- 
erty and  peace  to  this  country,  would  hold 
death  itself  at  bay.  This  very  city  has  multi- 
plied threefold  in  population  and  more  than 
that  in  wealth,  since  this  ministry  began.  All 
over  Europe,  think  of  the  changes.  Germany 
unified.  France  a  republic  instead  of  an  em- 
pire, needing  but  the  gospel  of  truth  to  make 


140  HISTORY   OF  THE 

that  republic  secure.  Italy  unified  and  free 
from  the  Alps  of  France  to  the  pines  of  Cala- 
bria, no  longer  under  the  control  of  what  Mrs. 
Partington  called  the  "  Pope's  vacuum."  When 
she  was  asked  what  was  the  Pope's  Vatican, 
she  replied  that  "  the  Pope's  vacuum  was  the 
place  where  the  Pope  kept  his  bull."  And  the 
whole  world  to-day  is  open  to  the  power  and 
progress  of  the  Gospel  as  it  has  never  been  be- 
fore. There  is  much  in  this  which  is  imposing 
and  impressive.  During  this  time,  our  brother 
has  been  preaching  the  same  Gospel  from  the 
first  hour  until  this.  He  never  had  any  need 
to  substitute  another  for  it,  any  more  than  he 
had  to  substitute  a  new  sunshine  for  the  one 
that  God  has  given  us,  or  a  new  atmosphere 
for  the  one  we  have  now.  During  this  time 
he  has  been  tarrying  in  the  land  of  truth,  and 
has  been  proclaiming  the  message  of  love  and 
peace  to  all  that  he  could  reach. 

Mr.  Evarts  once  told  me  the  following  story 
about  himself.  When  he  was  going  to  deliver 
the  anniversary  address  at  the  Centennial  at 
Philadelphia,   somebody   said    to   him,   "  Mr. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  I4I 

Evarts,  you  spoke  three  days  in  such  a  case 
and  you  spoke  a  week  in  such  a  case.  Have 
you  any  idea  how  long  you  will  speak  in  Phila- 
delphia ? "  "  No,"  said  he,  "  not  exactly. 
There  is  no  limitation  of  time,  except  that  it 
is  understood  between  the  committee  and  my- 
self that  I  will  get  through  before  the  next 
Centennial  Anniversary."  So  I  am  sure  to 
get  through  before  the  next  twenty-fifth  anni- 
versary here.  I  only  want  to  say  a  word  or 
two  more. 

The  permanent  unity  of  the  Gospel  in  its  in- 
fluence. I  like  to  think  of  that.  There  is  only 
one  man  in  the  world,  only  one  person  in  the 
world  who  is  able  to  make  a  whole  community 
to  think  and  feel  as  he  does.  A  mayor  of  a 
city  can  in  some  degree ;  but  the  minister  is 
the  only  man  who,  through  many  successive 
years  of  faithful  service,  can  mould  a  whole 
community  in  the  likeness  of  his  mind  and 
spirit.  It  is  a  greater  work  than  that  which 
Alexander  commanded  to  be  done  when  he 
ordered  one  of  his  generals  to  carve  with  his 
sword   a   monument   to   him   out   of  Mount 


142  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Athos.  And  this  work  is  done  only  through 
a  long,  permanent,  faithful  ministry.  We  hardly 
recognize  its  effects  day  by  day ;  but  its  influ- 
ence  upon  society  remains  as  long  as  society 
exists  and  as  long  as  the  community  continues. 
I  like  to  think  of  the  influence  which  this 
church  has  exerted  upon  the  community.  I 
like  to  think  of  the  influence  which  has  been 
exerted  by  Dr.  Cuyler  during  his  long  ministry 
here.  You  have  done  a  magnificent  work  in 
building  this  church  and  putting  this  pastor 
into  this  pulpit,  who,  by  his  preaching  of  God's 
truth,  and  by  his  life,  has  moulded  this  society 
in  his  own  likeness,  and  thus  contributed 
largely  to  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the 
whole  community  around  us.  What  a  majes- 
tic work  that  of  the  minister  is !  Some  men 
look  upon  it  with  indifference  or  disdain, — they 
prefer  secular  employment,  law,  or  politics,  or 
business,  anything  rather  than  the  work  of  a 
minister ;  yet,  what  other  employment  or  work 
is  there  that  makes  a  man  the  centre  of  greater 
influences,  that  makes  a  desire  for  secular  ad- 
vancement impossible,  than  being  the  head  of 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  143 

a  great  congregation,  whose  happiness  he  shares 
and  whose  sufferings  he  soothes  ?  What  a  mag- 
nificent work  it  is  to  be  the  instrument  of  God 
in  promoting  human  welfare  !  What  a  magnif- 
icent work  from  which  one  can  look  back  with 
happiness  and  joy ! 

Dear  friends,  with  all  my  heart  I  congratu- 
late you  on  what  you  have  done,  and  on  the 
faithful  service  you  have  had,  and  on  the  fruit 
it  has  borne.  My  brother,  I  congratulate  you 
on  what  God  has  enabled  you  to  do  and  be- 
come since  we  shook  hands  together  in  1847. 
God  bless  you  now  and  ever  henceforth  until 
the  full  reward  is  open  in  His  presence  ! 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  address,  Dr.  Cuyler  arose 
and  announced  the  fact  that  President  McCosh,  of 
Princeton,  who  was  on  the  platform,  intended  to 
leave;  and  called  upon  the  audience  to  give  "a 
hearty  round  of  cheers  for  President  James  McCosh 
of  dear  old  Princeton." 

The  church  quartet,  consisting  of  Miss  Alice  Maude 
Whitacre,  soprano  ;  Miss  Emma  Wilkinson,  con- 
tralto ;  Mr.  Charles  H.  Thompson,  tenor  ;  and  Mr. 
Mark  H.  Burch,  bass,  sang  a  selection,  accompanied 
by  Mr.  John  H.  Brewer,  organist. 


144  HISTORY   OF  THE 

The  next  speaker  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Wickes, 
as  follows  :  Twenty-five  years  ago  Dr.  Robinson  was 
the  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  this 
city.  When  we  erected  this  building  where  we  are 
now  and  when  we  needed  outside  help,  Dr.  Rob- 
inson was  one  of  two  men  who  furnished  us  with 
material  financial  aid, — the  other  was  Mr.  William 
E.  Dodge.  I  will  say  to  Dr.  Robinson,  that  it  was 
an  excellent  investment.  I  think  he  need  not  be 
asked  to  speak  to  us  this  evening.     (Applause.) 

Address  of  Dr.  C.  S.  Robinson. 

If  I  did  not  know,  dear  friends,  that  you 
had  asked  me  here  to-night  for  a  purpose,  and 
that  purpose  that  I  should  speak  to  you,  I 
should  not  be  brave  enough  to  trespass  even 
for  a  moment  upon  your  generosity  at  this 
late  hour, — the  more  so  as  I  am  crushed  just 
now  between  the  primus  homo  of  Brooklyn 
and  the  primus  homo  of  the  Lafayette  Avenue 
Church  who  is  to  come  after  me  ;  but  I  did 
not  come  here  for  nothing.  I  am  the  embodi- 
ment of  a  memory  just  now.  Dr.  Cuyler  and 
I  started  here  together  in  Brooklyn  twenty- 
five  years  ago.     I  saw  Dr.  Cuyler  for  the  first 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  I45 

time  about  thirty  years  ago,  when  I,  "  a  youth 
to  fortune  and  to  fame  unknown,"  came  down 
to  attend  the  funeral  of  one  of  my  church  in 
Troy,  Clarkson  Crosby.  The  funeral  was  held 
in  the  church  of  which  Dr.  Cuyler  was  then 
pastor,  over  among  the  old  Crosby  relation- 
ship ;  and  so  one  of  my  elders  and  I  came 
down  to  be  present  uninvited  and  unknown  ; 
but  that  little  man,  whom  I  saw  for  the  first 
time,  was  kind  enough  to  welcome  even  a 
stranger  that  he  had  never  seen  or  never 
heard  of  up  to  that  time.  By  and  by  I  came 
first  in  i860  down  to  Brooklyn  Heights,  Dr. 
Storrs'  paradise.  Dr.  Storrs  was  already  lo- 
cated there  right  near  me.  I  was  very  kind 
to  him  ;  and  he  was  very  kind  to  me,  at  a  time 
when  his  kindness  went  a  great  way.  Then 
Dr.  Cuyler  came  and  started  away  off  here  in 
the  "  lots."  Then  the  war  came  next  and  that 
was  the  next  great  event.  I  came  number 
one,  and  he  came  number  two,  and  the  war 
came  number  three.  We  could  not  understand 
how  this  church  was  built  during  the  next 
year.  The  war  was  here  threatening  our  coun- 
7 


146  HISTORY   OF  THE 

try  and  all  plans  were  upset.  We  found  out 
afterward  that  there  were  enterprise  and  busi- 
ness ability  enough  in  the  kind  and  sympathiz- 
ing mind  of  the  leader  of  this  people  to  get 
money  abroad,  so  that  when  gold  went  up,  so 
did  the  building.  Calmly  and  quietly,  nobody 
explained  anything,  but  all  kept  on  doing  the 
work.  Dr.  Cuyler  has  had  his  trials  since  he 
came  here  to  Brooklyn.  He  will  tell  you  that 
probably  when  he  speaks  to  you.  But  I  think 
we  can  say  that  he  never  made  any  fuss  in  his 
ministry.  He  did  his  work  quietly  and  well. 
Some  people  there  are  who  have  spent  a  long 
ministry  in  moulding  men  and  women  ;  some 
of  them  have  spent  a  long  ministry  in  making 
sermons  and  constructing  them  ;  and  some 
men  have  spent  a  long  ministry  in  converting 
souls  and  giving  God  the  glory  ;  and  some 
men  have  spent  a  ministry  in  making  removals 
and  in  making  a  fuss.  Dr.  Cuyler  has  been 
occupied  in  making  men  and  women  converts 
to  Christ,  and  all  the  other  good  things  have 
been  added  unto  him  according  to  the  prom- 
ise.    And  so  you  came  one  after  another,  and 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  1 47 

one  of  the  largest  churches  in  Brooklyn  was 
built  up  around  that  single  working  force 
which  repeated  itself  in  making  a  church  and 
in  leading  many  souls  to  Christ.  I  believe  the 
history  of  this  church  is  simply  the  result  of 
battling  on  that  line.  It  has  been  difficult  for 
any  minister  to  sustain  himself  for  twenty-five 
years  in  one  place.  It  has  been  more  difficult 
during  the  last  twenty-five  years  than  ever  be- 
fore in  the  history  of  the  United  States.  It 
has  been  harder  during  the  last  ten  years  to 
work  and  succeed  in  the  ministry  than  during 
any  other  ten  years  in  the  history  of  this  land. 
We  have  had  to  pick  our  way.  We  have  had 
to  contend  with  the  power  of  the  press,  not 
against  it  always  ;  but  I  mean  that  the  press 
has  usurped  some  of  the  old  weapons  of  power 
which  used  to  be  wielded  by  the  ministry 
alone.  We  have  had  to  contend  with  worldli- 
ness  and  the  growth  of  materialistic  views  on 
all  subjects,  especially  in  these  great  cities.  We 
have  had  to  contend  with  the  war  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  period,  and  the  dissolution  and  de- 
moralization  which  came  afterward.     It  has 


148  HISTORY   OF  THE 

been  very  difficult  for  any  one  to  sustain  him- 
self for  twenty-five  years  in  the  ministry.  Dur- 
ing that  time  churches  have  risen  and  some 
have  fallen.  Men  have  come  and  men  have 
gone.  On  Brooklyn  Heights  when  I  was 
here,  I  was  pastor  of  a  little  group  of  people. 
Dr.  Bethune  was  one  of  the  strong  Christian 
hearts  around  me  ;  but  during  my  eight  years 
of  ministry  here,  the  source  of  all  that  was 
helpful  and  comforting  to  me  was  to  be  found 
in  the  two  voices,  one  of  which  has  spoken 
and  the  other  of  which  is  to  speak  to-night. 

The  purpose  for  which  I  am  here  to-night 
is  to  offer  congratulations  to  our  dear  friend ; 
but  I  think  it  is  more  simply  to  be  honored  by 
an  invitation  from  my  old  friend,  so  that  when 
he  is  at  his  height,  he  would  have  his  old  friend 
come  and  sit  beside  him.  He  is  the  only  man 
that  calls  me  "  Brother  Charles"  in  letters  and 
"  Charlie "  when  he  meets  me.  His  mother 
once  said  to  me, "  You  are  my  other  son  ";  and 
his  wife  once  called  me,  "  Theodore's  friend  "; 
and  I  am  here  in  Theodore's  triumphs  because 
he  cared  enough  for  me  to  ask  me  here. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  1 49 

The  one  peculiarity  about  Dr.  Cuyler's  min- 
istry has  been  that  he  has  driven  at  everybody 
and  attacked  right  and  left  during  these  twenty- 
five  years,  and  never  had  a  fuss  once.  Tell 
me,  I  say,  if  you  can,  one  other  minister  in 
Brooklyn  who  has  been  here  for  ten,  fifteen, 
or  twenty-five  years,  who  has  not  had  at  some 
time  the  fiercest  quarrels  on  his  hands  and  the 
hardest  foes  to  fight.  I  never  heard  an  unkind 
word  spoken  of  Dr.  Cuyler  during  my  life, 
even  from  those  who  disagreed  with  him. 
Ministers  have  their  trials  and  troubles  ;  and 
yet  many  of  our  people  stand  by  us  through 
everything.  Ministers  forget.  A  minister  once 
asked  a  woman,  "  How  is  your  little  child  }'' 
"  Why,"  said  she, "  you  buried  her  three  months 
ago."  He  was  broken-hearted.  How  could 
he  forget  such  a  thing  7  If  you  had  been  a 
minister  three  months  you  would  ask  how 
could  he  remember.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to 
throw  yourself  on  the  mercy  of  the  people.  I 
knew  a  minister  that  forgot  a  funeral  once. 
There  was  no  help  for  it.  He  would  not  have 
done  it  for  his  life.     They  were  all  waiting  at 


T50  HISTORY   OF   THE 

the  house  when  he  came.  The  next  day,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  he  called  on  the  family,  and 
said  in  candor,  "  I  forgot  it."  The  lady  said, 
"  I  know  you  did,  for  I  knew  you  would  not 
forsake  us."  That  was  all  she  said.  Yes,  there 
are  times  when  the  people  stand  by  us.  And 
there  was  never  a  people  that  stood  by  a  man 
so  devotedly  as  this  people  have  stood  by  Dr. 
Cuyler  during  these  twenty-five  years.  There 
never  was  a  word  that  came  to  me  from  Dr. 
Cuyler's  congregation  about  anything  that  he 
ever  did  or  said.  I  presume  that  he  has  had 
his  trials.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  has  said 
the  wrong  thing  to  the  wrong  person.  But  he 
had  the  hearts  of  the  people  with  him  and  it 
always  turned  out  right.  He  reached  the  peo- 
ple in  their  homes.  I  remember  once  that  a 
gentleman  came  over  here  to  live,  who  said  he 
would  not  attend  Dr.  Cuyler's  church.  As  he 
was  walking  along  the  street  one  day,  he  saw 
Dr.  Cuyler  standing  on  the  corner  chirruping 
to  a  little  baby  sitting  in  a  window.  That 
decided  him  in  favor  of  Dr.  Cuyler  and  his 
church.     So  probably  many  of  the  troubles  in 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  151 

this  church  have  been  smoothed  over  by  the 
same  kindly,  hearty  manner. 

I  have  got  through  my  talk.  You  see  it 
was  a  very  simple  errand  on  which  I  came.  I 
have  had  some  pretty  hard  times  since  I  left 
here.  I  did  not  go  away  from  Brooklyn  of 
my  own  free  will ;  but  I  love  the  church 
where  I  am  now.  But  Brooklyn  was  the 
only  home  I  ever  loved  or  cared  for.  Those 
that  I  care  for  most  personally,  live  here.  Dur- 
ing these  years  that  I  have  wrestled  and  fought, 
there  has  been  one  voice  that  has  kept  ringing 
on  the  air,  sending  me  encouragement  and 
hope.  I  have  a  letter  from  him,  in  which  he 
says  :  "  Brother  Charles,  if  you  get  a  church  of 
that  size  it  will  be  all  you  want  to  take  care 
of,  because  it  is  almost  as  big  as  mine."  Dur- 
ing all  my  work  he  has  encouraged  me  and 
aided  me.  And  if  I  am  ever  called  upon  be- 
fore he  dies  to  surrender  my  life  and  if  it  needs 
be  told  of  me,  I  would  rather  his  voice  would 
tell  it  than  any  other.  If  I  am  ever  wrong,  I 
would  rather  he  should  tell  me  than  any  one 
else.     And  if  I  have  ever  done  a  fine  thing,  I 


152  HISTORY   OF  THE 

would  rather  he  knew  it  than  anybody  else. 
And  if  he  has  ever  a  greater  triumph  than 
this,  I  hope  he  will  ask  his  old  friend  to  come 
and  stand  by  him,  and  allow  me  to  say  simply 
as  I  do  now, — I  am  glad,  and  God  bless  you  ! 

Mr.  Wickes  introduced  Dr.  Cuyler  as  follows : 
Now  I  introduce  to  you  our  Pastor.  He  has  been 
waiting  for  an  introduction. 


Address  of  Dr.  Cuyler. 
Good  friends  and  neighbors,  if  there  is  a 
man  in  all  Mayor  Low's  dominions  that  is 
happier  than  your  pastor  is  to-night,  bring 
him  along ;  I  would  like  to  compare  notes 
with  him.  I  am  as  full  to-night  as  the  water- 
pots  of  Cana  of  Galilee,  full  to  the  brim  ;  not 
of  a  speech,  however.  If  I  was  called  upon 
to  deliver  an  address  to  either  of  these  beloved 
friends,  I  think  I  could  wax  eloquent  over 
them.  You  are  only  in  your  freshman  year 
yet.  Mayor  Low.  Somebody,  somewhere 
else,  is  going  to  say  to  you  :  "  Come  up 
higher,"  if  there  is  anything  higher  than  the 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  1 53 

mayoralty  of  Brooklyn.  I  think  I  could  have 
been  inspired  as  I  have  listened  to  the  dear 
friend  who  combines  the  eloquence  of  Burke 
with  the  memory  of  Macaulay— Dr.  Richard 
S.  Storrs.  I  have  felt  my  heart  go  out  to  this 
brother,  whom  I  never  meet  without  say- 
ing, ''  Brother  Charlie,  how  are  you  ? "  I 
could  wax  eloquent  over  Mayor  Low,  Dr. 
Storrs,  or  Dr.  Robinson.  I  was  affected  also 
by  the  speech  made  by  my  beloved  elder,  who, 
although  a  merchant,  is  a  better  elocutionist 
than  many  ministers. 

Dear  friends,  I  have  brought  with  me  into 
this  pulpit  to-night  this  little  weapon  [hold- 
ing in  his  hand  a  spade  marked  i860,  the 
handle  of  which  was  covered  with  a  knot  of 
red,  white,  and  blue  ribbons]  which  first  broke 
the  sod  for  the  Lafayette  Avenue  Church. 
My  practice  has  been  in  all  my  preaching  and 
writing  to  call  a  spade  a  spade.  This  is  a 
spade.  What  is  the  history  of  it  ?  1 860  is 
inscribed  on  it.  A  week  after  the  election  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  right  on  yonder  vacant  lot 
I  put  my  Httle  foot  on  that  spade  and  drove 
7* 


154  HISTORY   OF  THE 

it  into  the  ground.  With  it  I  broke  the 
ground  for  the  Lafayette  Avenue  Church. 
This  is  one  of  the  founders  of  this  church. 
One  of  the  members  of  the  church,  Mr. 
Stephen  Reeves,  took  the  spade  and  has  kept 
it  for  twenty-five  years.  When  the  old  flag 
that  floated  on  the  top  of  this  church  during 
the  war  came  down,  it  was  taken  by  my  old 
friend  Captain  Murray.  He  put  it  away  in 
his  house,  where  it  was  eaten  by  moths. 
Otherwise  I  suppose  it  would  have  been  here 
to-night.  This  spade  recalls  an  interview  I 
once  had  with  Thomas  Carlyle.  He  said  in 
his  broad  Scotch  way :  '*  Your  name  is  Cuy- 
ler.  That  is  a  Dutch  name,  and  signifies  a 
digger."  "Yes,"  I  said,  "a  Cuyler  is  a  mole. 
He  delves  in  the  ground."  This  is  the  sort  of 
instrument  that  I  have  kept  in  my  hand  all 
these  years.  I  have  endeavored  to  put  the 
spiritual  spade  in  week  after  week  and  year 
after  year. 

Now  two  or  three  off-hand  words  in  regard 
to  my  life-labors.  The  work  which  I  have 
done   for   temperance    has    been    alluded   to. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  155 

That  began  when  I  was  about  twenty  years 
old,  in  the  city  of  Glasgow,  where  I  made  my 
first  public  speech.  It  was  in  the  old  Town 
Hall  of  that  city.  Father  Matthew  was  on 
the  platform  beside  me,  and  when  I  had  fin- 
ished my  speech  the  great  apostle  of  temper- 
ance from  Ireland — the  greatest  tower  of 
strength  that  temperance  has  found  in  this 
century — clasped  me  to  him,  boy  that  I  was, 
and  kissed  me.  And  that  kiss  from  that 
grandest  temperance  reformer  has  been  a 
benediction  to  me  in  all  my  work.  To-night 
John  B.  Gough's  letter  came  to  me  brimful 
of  life,  the  blessed  fellow.  I  like  to  think  of 
the  forty  years  that  he  and  I  have  pulled  on 
together  side  by  side.  I  want  to  say  that  if  I 
had  not  been  a  minister  there  is  no  work 
which  would  have  given  me  more  pleasure 
than  in  going  out  up  and  down  the  length 
and  breadth  of  this  land  fighting  against  these 
monstrous  curses,  the  decanter  and  dram- 
shop. 

How  came  I  to  be  a  minister  ?     I  just  es- 
caped the  bar.     All  my  ancestors  were  law- 


156  HISTORY   OF  THE 

yers.  My  grandfather  was  a  lawyer,  my  father 
was  a  lawyer,  and  my  father-in-law,  that  was 
to  be,  was  a  lawyer.  I  had  about  made  up 
my  mind  to  enter  the  office  of  William  M. 
Meredith  in  Philadelphia.  Soon  after  I  came 
back  from  Europe,  where  I  went  when  a 
young  man,  I  visited  Ludlowville  on  Lake 
Cayuga,  to  visit  an  uncle.  While  there  I  was 
asked  to  go  to  a  prayer-meeting.  While 
abroad  I  had  gotten  out  of  the  spiritual  at- 
mosphere ;  but  I  was  glad  to  go  to  this  meet- 
ing. It  was  at  the  house  of  Benjamin  Joy, 
where  about  thirty  persons  were  gathered. 
Presently  Captain  Joy  said,  ''Theodore,  you 
had  better  say  something."  I  spoke  about 
five  minutes.  Afterward  one  young  lady 
came  up  and  thanked  me  for  what  I  had  said  ; 
and  a  young  man  also  came,  and  I  talked  to 
him  about  Christ,  and  he  told  me  I  had  done 
him  some  good.  As  I  drove  home  that  after- 
noon along  the  lake,  when  I  got  to  a  certain 
point  this  thought  flashed  across  my  mind  : 
"  If  five  minutes  did  a  little  good,  why  not 
preach   all  the    time?"      That    five    minutes 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  1 57 

changed  my  whole  life.  That  five  minutes 
turned  me  from  the  bar  into  the  pulpit,  and 
started  me  in  the  path  where  I  stand  to-day, 
and  I  thank  God  for  it.  I  look  back  over 
forty  years  of  ministry,  first  at  Kingston,  Pa., 
supplying  the  place  of  an  absent  pastor  six 
months ;  then  three  years  at  Burlington  ;  then 
three  and  a  half  years  at  Trenton,  where  I 
found  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  of  my  life. 
I  often  think  I  would  like  to  put  a  marble 
tablet  in  the  brick  pavement  of  the  street  be- 
side my  house,  for  there,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  my  eyes  fell  for  the  first  time  upon  a 
face  that  has  brought  me  only  sunshine.  From 
Trenton  I  came  to  New  York,  and  then  to 
Lafayette  Avenue  Church  and  you.  God 
bless  you,  my  noble  flock !  I'll  match  you 
against  any  other  congregation  from  the  Pine- 
Tree  State  to  the  Palmettos.  God  bless  you, 
brother  ministers  and  neighbors  on  the  Hill. 
I  thank  you  for  your  greeting.  I  thank  the 
people  of  Brooklyn  for  doing  so  much  to 
make  me  happy. 

Forty  years — forty  years  from  to-night — a 


158  HISTORY   OF  THE 

heap  of  dust  in  Greenwood  !  Forty  years 
from  to-night  I  trust  1  may  not  only  have  a 
glimpse,  but  a  good  look  at  the  King  in  His 
beauty.  If  I  meet  any  of  you  there,  or  any 
of  those  from  Scandinavia,  or  the  plains  of 
the  West  or  North  or  South,  who  have  read 
my  words  and  come  to  Christ  through  me,  oh 
what  a  reward ! 

And  when  I  go  to  my  grave  and  lie  there 
on  Fountain  Hill,  I  only  ask  to  be  remem- 
bered if  I  have  led  some  hearts  to  Jesus.  If 
you  write  any  inscription  above  me,  write  just 
these  words:  "Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  the 
founder  of  Lafayette  Avenue  Church,"  and 
put  under  it,  "  Remember  the  words  I  spake 
unto  you  while  I  was  yet  with  you."  Good- 
night !     God  bless  you  all ! 

Among  the  large  number  of  letters  received  by 
the  Committee  of  Invitation,  or  by  the  Pastor,  the 
following  have  been  selected  for  publication.  The 
limits  prescribed  for  this  memorial  volume  forbid  the 
insertion  of  many  others,  which  are  equally  hearty 
and  sympathetic  in  their  tone  and  expression  : 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  1 59 

From  Rev.  Dr.  T.  De  Witt  Talmage. 

"Brooklyn,  April  6,  1885. 
"Tb  the  Committee  on  Dr.  Cuyler's  Anniversary : 

"  Holding  a  pulpit  with  unimpaired  power  for 
twenty-five  years  implies  great  talent  as  well  as 
consecration,  and  upon  that  achievement  Dr.  Cuy- 
ler  is  congratulated.  Always  on  the  side  of  relig- 
ion and  the  best  interests  of  humanity,  he  has  the 
admiration  of  all  who  know  him.  After  all  his  la- 
bors he  seems  as  fresh  as  thirty  years  ago  when  I 
first  met  him.  I  hope  to  have  the  pleasure  of  work- 
ing side  by  side  with  him  for  many  years  in  the 
great  harvest-field. 

"  Regretting  that  an  engagement  hinders  my  at- 
tending the  reception  to-night, 

"  I  am  yours,  etc., 

"  T.  De  Witt  Talmage." 


From  John  B.  Gough. 

"  Dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"  With  all  my  heart  I  send  you  my  best  love  and 
congratulations  that  God  has  given  you  such  won- 
derful success  the  past  quarter  century  in  your  pres- 
ent church. 

"  I  remember  you  so  well  at  Princeton  in  your 
preparation  for  your  great  life-work,  afterward  in 


l6o  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Burlington,  Trenton,  and  Market  Street,  New  York, 

during  your  earlier  ministry  as  a  minister  of  Christ, 

and  for  forty  years  my  true  and  faithful  personal 

friend.    God  bless  you  and  your  dear  people  !     May 

He   more  abundantly  bestow  upon  you  and  yours 

His  richest  blessings  ;  and  give  you  more  abundant 

success. 

"  May  your  crown  of  rejoicing  be  glittering  with 

stars  ! 

"John  B.  Gough. 
''April  A,,  1885." 


From  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman  Whiting. 

"  South  Williamstown,  Mass., 

''April  3,  1885. 
"  Dear  Bro.  Cuyler  : 

"  Have  you  any  room  in  hand  or  heart  for  just 
one  more  brother's  *  Well  done  !  good  and  faithful ' .'' 
What  grace  of  God  in  and  through  the  twenty-five 
years  !  What  throngs  of  souls  glorify  God  in  you  ! 
Amid  the  unnumbered  words  of  gratulation  and 
cheer,  how  you  will  thank  and  praise  Christ  Jesus 
'  by  whom  and  for  whom  *  these  years  have  been 
possessed. 

"  Brother  C,  your  generous  soul  can  believe  that 
about  twenty-six  years  ago  there  were  tears  in  the 
eyes  looking  from  the  *  Park  Presbyterian '  pulpit 
which  arc  as   lenses  now, — revealing  the  work  then 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  l6l 

begun  in  magnitudes  not  then  foreseen,  and  now  all 
aglow  in  rainbow  beauty.  Glory  to  God  and  to  the 
Lamb  ! 

"  Very  sincerely  yours  in  brotherly  love, 

"  Lyman  Whiting." 


From  Robert  Carter ^  Esq.^  New  York. 

"  New  York,  March  26,  1885. 
"  Dear  Bro.  Cuyler  : 

"  I  heartily  congratulate  you  on  yotir  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  your  work  in  Brooklyn.  How  gra- 
cious our  dear  Lord  has  been  to  you  and  to  multi- 
tudes through  your  instrumentality.  I  presume 
more  than  two  thousand  five  hundred  have  been 
admitted  to  the  visible  church  under  your  care  dur- 
ing that  period.  What  a  sight  in  the  great  day 
when  you  stand  before  the  throne  and  say,  *  Here 
am  I  and  the  children  whom  Thou  hast  given  me  !  * 
To  myself  personally,  you  have  been  a  brother  be- 
loved— most  beloved.  I  often  think  of  the  words  of 
the  great  apostle,  *  I  thank  my  God  on  every  re- 
membrance of  thee.* 

"  I  am  very  sorry  that  I  can  not  be  present  at  the 
meeting  of  your  friends  on  Monday  next.  My  dear 
wife  and  I  are  drawing  near  to  the  end  of  our  pil- 
grimage, and  are  compelled  to  keep  quiet  at  home. 


l62  HISTORY   OF  THE 

but  I  can  not  forbear  to  express  to  you  my  warm 
attachment  to  you  and  yours.  The  Lord  bless  you 
and  keep  you  now  and  evermore. 

"  Your  affectionate  friend, 

"  Robert  Carter.** 


Frotn  Prof.  W.  G,  T.  Shedd,  D.D.,  New  York. 

"  148  East  38TH  Street, 
"  New  York,  April  6,  1885. 
"  Dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"  I  have  received  an  invitation  to  attend  the  re- 
ception to  be  tendered  to  yourself  and  Mrs.  Cuyler 
on  Monday  evening  next. 

"  It  would  give  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  be 
present  on  that  interesting  occasion,  in  company 
with  your  friends, — but  the  state  of  my  health  for- 
bids. But  there  is  no  one  of  all  the  great  number 
of  your  friends  who  will  congratulate  you  more 
sincerely  and  warmly  than  I  do,  on  the  completion 
of  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  faithful  and  successful 
evangelical  labor  for  our  Lord  and  Master. 

"  May  He  long  spare  you  to  do  still  more  of  the 
same  work  in  the  same  spirit ! 

"  Yours  fraternally, 

*'W.  G.  T.  Shedd. 
"  Rev.  T.  L.  Cuyler,  D.D." 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  1 63 

Fro7n  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  C.  Potter^  Assistant  Bishop 
of  Diocese  of  New  York. 

"  96  Fourth  Avenue, 
"New  York,  Mar.  30,  1885. 
"  Dear  Mrs.  Cuyler  : 

"  It  is  pleasant  to  see  that  you  are  associated  with 
the  Doctor  in  the  approaching  commemoration  of 
April  6th,  and  as  he  will  have  more  letters  than  he 
can  read,  I  venture  to  express  to  you  my  regret  that 
engagements  already  made  will  prevent  our  accept- 
ing the  invitation  to  the  reception  to  be  held  on 
that  day. 

"  I  need  not  tell  you  how  heartily  we  send  to  you 
both  our  greetings  and  congratulations,  and  how 
cordially  we  wish  for  Dr.  Cuyler  and  yourself  con- 
tinued health  and  usefulness  in  a  field  in  which  your 
mutual  labors  have  been  so  fruitful. 

"  I  am,  dear  Mrs.  Cuyler,  for  myself  and  Mrs. 

Potter, 

"  Very  faithfully  yours, 

"H.  C.  Potter." 


From  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour^  Ex-Governor 
of  New  York. 

"  Rev.  Tiieo.  L.  Cuyler,  D.D.  : 

"J/v  dear  Sir  : — I  received  an  invitation  to  attend 
the  reception  given  to  Mrs.  Cuyler  and  yourself  by 


164  HISTORY   OF  THE 

the  Lafayette  Avenue  Church  on  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  your  pastorate.  I  have  been  confined 
to  my  house  for  several  months  ;  and  at  the  time  I 
received  the  invitation  I  was  unable  to  acknowledge 
it.  I  congratulate  you  upon  this  most  pleasant  tes- 
timonial of  regard  on  the  part  of  your  congregation. 
On  the  last  day  of  this  month  I  shall  be  seventy-five 
years  old  :  in  addition  to  the  weight  of  years,  my 
health  is  poor  and  I  am  quite  worn  out.  I  am  living 
on  a  farm  in  the  outskirts  of  Utica,  where  I  shall  be 
happy  to  see  you  and  Mrs.  Cuyler.  I  enjoy  country 
life,  and  do  not  make  it  burdensome. 
"  I  am,  truly  yours, 

**  Horatio  Seymour.** 


From  Rev.  Dr.  George  L.  Prentiss^  New  York. 

"57  East  6ist  Street, 
"  New  York,  April  5,  1885. 
"  Dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"  I  shall  not  be  able  to  be  with  you  to-morrow 
evening,  but  I  send  you  my  heartiest  congratula- 
tions. It  will  be  a  memorable  occasion  to  you  and 
to  your  dear  wife  and  to  your  people — an  occasion 
full  to  overflowing  of  precious,  grateful,  and  hal- 
lowed memories.  May  the  Lord  Himself,  who 
has  been  to  you  and  to  them  the  joy  and  strength 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  l6$ 

of  all  these  five  and  twenty  years,  make  it  bright 
with  His  presence. 

"  I  first  heard  you  preach  at  Saratoga  Springs 
nearly  thirty  years  ago,  and  in  a  letter  to  my  wife, 
written  at  the  time,  expressed  my  delight  in  listen- 
ing to  a  'true  Gospel  sermon.'  How  many  such 
sermons  you  have  preached  since  then  !  And  how 
little  you  know,  or  ever  will  know  in  this  world,  all 
the  good  they  have  done  ;  what  souls  they  have 
cheered  and  blessed,  or  won  for  Christ ! 

"  May  your  life  be  spared  yet  many  years  that 
you  may  continue  to  preach,  as  aforetime,  true  Gos- 
pel sermons  ! 

"  God  bless  you  and  your  whole  flock. 

"  Ever  faithfully  and  affectionately  yours, 

"  Geo.  L.  Prentiss." 


From  Rev.  Dr.  Jesse  B.  Thomas^  Brooklyn. 

"  My  dear  Brother  : 

"  Accept  the  belated  congratulation — all  the  riper 
by  delay — of  myself  and  wife  on  your  twenty-fifth 
anniversary.  We  meant  to  be  there  ;  but  my  mala- 
rial *■  brake  *  hugged  the  wheels  too  closely  at  the 
hour  and  we  did  not  get  off. 

"  It  is  a  comfort  in  this  nebulous,  mucilaginous, 
and  phantasmagoric  age  to  look  at  '  Lafayette  Ave- 


l66  HISTORY   OF  THE 

nue,*  and  be  sure  that  the  foundations  have  not 
slipped  or  settled  ;  nor  the  light  that  is  in  them 
*  become  darkness.'  'Stand  fast,  Craig  Ellachie  ! ' 
God  bless  you,  and  keep  you  on  the  *  Captain's 
deck  '  for  many  a  long  year. 

"  Faithfully  and  affectionately  yours, 

"J.  B.  Thomas." 


From  Rev,  Dr.  Abbott  E.  Kittredge,  Chicago. 

"Chicago,  April  ^^  1885. 
"  My  dear  Bro.  Cuyler  : 

"  I  send  to  you  the  most  cordial  greetings  and  most 
sincere  wishes  of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  of 
this  city,  and  in  their  wreath  of  congratulations 
I  place  my  own  deep  love  for  you.  Had  it  only 
been  possible,  we  would  all  have  been  with  you,  two 
thousand  strong,  to  unite  our  praises  and  prayers 
with  your  own  large  family  circle,  but  I  fear  that 
your  building  would  not  have  been  able  to  hold  us, 
and  then  the  provisions  of  the  banquet  might  have 
given  out,  for  we  should  most  certainly  have  wished 
to  break  bread  with  you.  It  must  be  a  very  happy 
thought  to  you,  my  dear  brother,  that  outside  of  the 
Lafayette  Avenue  Church,  you  have  a  vast  congre- 
gation all  over  this  land  and  in  other  lands,  to  whom 
by  your  writings  you  have  spoken  week  by  week, 
and  who  have  been  quickened  in  spiritual  life,  en- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  167 

couraged  to  more  earnest  labor,  developed  into  a 
richer  fruitfulness,  and  comforted  in  hours  of  trial 
by  your  messages  brought  to  them  from  the  loving 
heart  of  the  Father.  My  prayer  is  that  for  many 
years  your  bow  may  abide  in  strength,  and  that, 
carried  on  the  Shepherd's  shoulders  even  down  to 
old  age,  you  may  continue  to  feed  the  flock  of  God, 
and  win  thousands  of  precious  souls  into  the  king- 
dom of  Christ. 

"  With  loving  wishes  and  prayers, 
"  Yours  faithfully, 

"  Abbott  E.  Kittredge." 


From  Prof.  Samuel  M.  Hopkins^  D.D.^  Auburn 
Theological  Seminary. 

"Auburn.  Theological  Seminary, 

''March  30,  1885. 
"  Rev.  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

''My  dear  Brother  and  Friend : — I  had  noticed  with 
great  interest  your  approaching  quarter-century  an- 
niversary, and  am  now  favored  with  an  invitation  to 
be  present  on  the  occasion.  Would  I  could  do  so, 
and  could  join  with  the  multitudes  of  those,  both 
lay  and  clerical,  who  admire  and  love  you,  and  who 
will  flock  to  offer  Mrs.  Cuyler  and  yourself  their 
felicitations  and  blessings,  on  the  day  appointed. 
It  must  be  certainly  twenty-five  years  or  more  since 


1 68  HISTORY   OF  THE 

I  first  saw  and  heard  you  in  the  old  *  Crystal  Pal- 
ace,' flaming  in  your  early  enthusiasm  for  the  cause 
of  Temperance,  and  by  your  side  the  *  great  show- 
man,* who  has  continued  your  constant  friend  and 
fellow-worker  ever  since.  And  now  I  see  you  after 
all  this  lapse  of  time,  with  your  natural  force  un- 
abated, with  the  same  enthusiasm  for  every  noble 
idea  and  every  good  cause,  with  the  same  inexhaust- 
ible fertility  of  mind  and  resources, — and  crowned 
with  the  benedictions,  not  only  of  one  congregation 
and  one  church,  but  of  the  whole  community.  You 
know  well  of  the  happy  circumstances  that  have 
brought  us  two  in  these  latter  years  into  relations 
of  warmer  friendship.  May  God  bless  them  all  to 
us — all  our  joys — all  our  sorrows  :  and  long  keep 
you  active  in  His  service,  an  ornament  of  our  Church 
and  of  our  Christianity — the  centre  of  thousands  of 
loving  hearts. 

"  I  remain,  my  dear  friend, 

"  Most  cordially  yours,  etc., 

"  Samuel  M.  Hopkins." 


From  Prof.  John  T.  Duffield,  D.D.,  Princeton  College. 

"Princeton,  N.  J.,  April 4,  1885. 

"  My  dear  Bro.  Cuyler  : 

"  1  regret  exceedingly  that  special  and  unavoid- 
able duties  on  Monday  and  Tuesday  will  prevent 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  1 69 

my  acceptance  of  the  kind  invitation  to  the  Ebenezer 
meeting  in  your  church  on  Monday  evening.  I  send 
by  letter — which  it  would  have  given  me  pleasure 
to  present  in  person — my  cordial  congratulations 
on  your  abundant  and  abundantly  blessed  labors 
in  the  Master's  service.  Your  career  is  a  notable 
illustration  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  of  one's 
college  days.  The  most  distinguished  member  of 
the  distinguished  Class  of  '41,  when  in  College 
*  attained  to  the  first  three '  in  scholarship,  and  as  a 
writer  and  speaker  ^2,s  facile  princeps. 

"  May  many  years  be  added  to  your  honored  and 
useful  life,  and  to  the  end  may  your  *  bow  abide  in 
strength.' 

"  With  kindest  regards  and  most  hearty  congratu- 
lations to  Mother  Cuyler,  and  to  your  good  wife 

and  family, 

"  I  am,  yours  fraternally, 

"John  T.  Duffield." 


From  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Hawley^  First  Presbyterian 
Churchy  Auhurity  N.  V. 

"Auburn,  N.  Y.,  April  3,  1885. 
"  Dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"As   congratulations   are   pouring   in   upon  you 
from  near  and  far,  I  beg  you  will  accept  mine  that 
come  to  you  from  a  full  heart.      Indeed,  Auburn 
8 


I/O  HISTORY   OF  THE 

wishes  you  joy  in  rounding  out  twenty-five  years  of 
such  grand  service  as  marks  your  Brooklyn  pastor- 
ate, while  your  own  Cayuga  is  proud  to  number  you 
among  her  honored  sons. 

*^  Need  I  say  what  a  large  place  you  keep  in  the 
heart  of  the  Old  First  Church,  and  how  glad  we 
are  that  ties  of  kindred,  as  well  as  of  memory,  be- 
times draw  you  hither. 

"  Would  that  I  could  be  with  you  at  the  reception 
Monday  evening,  if  only  to  look  in  on  the  glad  scene 
which  commemorates  the  long  and  blessed  pastor- 
ate. What  a  burden  of  happiness  will  be  laid  upon 
your  heart.  It  is  an  added  joy  that  your  gracious 
mother  lives  to  see  the  day  and  share  it  with  you. 
Fortunate  indeed,  dear  brother,  to  have  done  service 
so  conspicuous  and  gifted,  and  then  be  permitted 
to  lay  it  all  down  at  the  feet  of  the  '  One  Master, 

even  Christ.' 

"  Your  brother  in  Christ, 

"  Charles  Hawley." 


From  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  MacLaren,  Manchester,  Eng. 

"  My  dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"  I  have  to  thank  you  very  much  for  the  report  of 
the  services  commemorating  your  long  and  honored 
pastorate.  Most  heartily  do  I  add  my  congratula- 
tions and  good  wishes.     I  read  your   anniversary 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  171 

sermon  with  much  interest,  and  not  without  some 
self-castigation  ;  for  our  dates  are  nearly  parallel, 
and  my  forty  years  will  soon  be  complete. 

"  I  beat  you  in  the  number  of  sermons  preached, 
but  in  nothing  else.  I  have  never  been  able  to  do 
much  pastoral  work.  *  There  are  diversities  of  oper- 
ations ';  but  I  can  heartily  admire  from  afar  your 
power  of  going  among  people,  and  reaching  their 
hearts  for  Christ's  sake — just  as  I  admire  the  (to 
me)  equally  unattainable  power  of  composing  an 
Oratorio,  of  which  I  could  not  put  together  four  notes. 

"May  God  give  you  many  more 'years  of  happy 
service,  and  fulfil  in  you  the  promise  which  I  love 
to  quote  in  the  rough  music  of  the  good  old  Scotch 
Psalms  (which  I  hope  you  American  Presbyterians 
have  not  *  sold  for  the  mess '  of  a  hymn-book,  but 
have  kept  them  as  well  as  introduced  that) — 

"  *  And  in  old  age  when  others  fade, 
They  fruit  still  forth  shall  bring ! ' 

"  I  am,  dear  Doctor,  yours  faithfully, 

"Alexander  MacLaren.* 


From  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  New  York, 

"  282  Madison  Ave., 
"  New  York,  April  2,  1885. 
"  My  dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"  I  sincerely  regret  I  can  not  be  present  at  the  re- 
ception on  Monday  evening  next  to  join  with  the 


172  HISTORY   OF   THE 

friends  who  love  you  so  warmly,  in  their  tribute  of 
respect  and  affection. 

"  I  congratulate  you  and  your  church  in  the  long 
and  delightful  relation  of  pastor  and  people, — so 
unusual  in  its  length,  so  grand  and  fruitful  in  results. 

"  I  thank  God  for  the  earnestness,  steadiness  of 
purpose,  and  rare  good  sense  which  have  made  your 
name  and  work  so  precious  to  us  all. 

"The  only  shadow  I  have  in  writing  is  the  thought, 
my  dear  father  is  not  here  to  tell  you,  as  he  has  often 
told  me,  how  much  he  loved  and  honored  you. 

"  May  you  be  spared  in  health  and  strength  to 
round  out  the  golden  wedding  with  your  church. 
"  I  am,  my  dear  Dr.  Cuyler, 

"  Most  sincerely  yours, 

"W.  E.  Dodge,  Jr. 

"  Rev.  Dr.  T.  L.  Cuyler." 


From  Rev.  Newman  Hall^  LL.B.y  London^  Fng. 
"  Beloved  Brother  Theodore  : 

"  We  were  greatly  interested  in  the  narrative  of 
your  Jubilee  as  reported  in  the  papers.  No  one 
ever  received  more  emphatic  testimony  of  affection- 
ate respect  from  a  congregation  ;  and  none  ever  de- 
served it  more.  My  only  regret  is  that  you  did  not 
let  me  know  in  time  to  add  my  little  tribute.     As 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  1 73 

we  work  on,  week  by  week,  we  often  feel  how  little 
we  are  doing  ;  yet  when  you  can  add  up  the  total 
of  twenty-five  years  as  in  your  historical  sermon — 
how  much  cause  there  is  for  gratitude  to  God  in 
having  been  able  to  do  so  much  amid  so  many  inter- 
ruptions. What  a  list  you  have  given  of  sermons, 
articles,  members,  etc.  It  is  a  wonder  that  you  are 
so  well  with  so  much  work.  How  your  dear  face 
will  gladden  many  hearts  in  the  Old  Country  when 
you  come  to  us  !  But  chief  of  all,  the  occupants  of 
your  '  Ivy  House  '  home — and  of 

"  Your  ever-loving  brother, 

**  Newman  Hall." 


From  Rev,  Dr.  Charles  E.  Robinson^  First  Presbyterian 
Churchy  Rochester. 

"  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  April  4,  1885. 
"  Gentlemen  of  Committee : 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  thoughtfulness  to  invite  me 
to  attend  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  Dr.  Cuy- 
ler's  pastorate  over  the  Lafayette  Avenue  Church. 
I  regret  that  I  can  not  be  present  to  share  in  the 
general  rejoicing,  and  to  pay,  with  you,  my  tribute 
of  praise  to  our  blessed  Lord,  for  what  He  has  done 
for  the  world,  through  the  ministry  of  your  pastor. 
It  would  be  a  grand  enough  work  for  a  lifetime,  to 


174  HISTORY   OF   THE 

build  up  such  a  church,  as  from  its  inception  to  the 
present  has  been  under  his  care.  But  Dr.  Cuyler 
has  sent  the  radii  of  his  marvellous  intellectual 
vitality,  and  of  his  consecrated  Christian  spirit, 
through  all  Christendom.  Prayer  will  ascend  from 
every  land  for  God's  blessing  on  your  gathering. 
The  mystic  chords  that  bind  all  Christian  hearts 
together  will  thrill  with  the  salutations  and  mes- 
sages of  love  to  him.  Among  many  other  marked 
characteristics  of  his  honored  and  exceptionally 
successful  ministry,  I  hold  it  by  no  means  insig- 
nificant that  through  it,  Evangelical  Christianity  is 
seen  to  be  the  true  fountain  of  genuine  reforms.  He 
has  forged  those  hammers,  with  which  he  has  struck 
such  mighty  blows  against  the  liquor  traffic  and  for 
the  Union,  in  the  white-heat  of  a  holy  love  for  Christ. 

"All  honor  to  him  who  will  joyfully  lay  all  honor 
down  at  Jesus'  feet. 

"  Again  thanking  you  for  your  invitation  to  be 

present, 

"  I  am,  very  truly,  etc., 

"  Charles  E.  Robinson." 


From  Hon.  George  S.  Batcheller^  Judge  in  the  Inter- 
natio7ial  Tribtmal,  Cairo,  Egypt. 

"  Rev.  Dr.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler  : 

**  My  dear  and  venerated  Friend : — I  have  read  with 
great  interest  the  newspaper  accounts  of  the  appro- 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  1/5 

priate  testimonial  of  your  congregation  and  friends 
on  the  occasion  of  your  '  Silver  Wedding.*  I  can 
not  allow  the  memorable  event  to  pass — though  so 
far  away — without  offering  my  own  most  cordial 
congratulations  to  you  and  Mrs.  Cuyler.  I  assure 
you,  that  I  count  it  a  great  privilege  to  be  numbered 
among  your  host  of  friends.  May  your  useful  days 
be  extended  to  the  period  of  your  Golden  anniver- 
sary ;  and  after  that  we  will  *  pension  *  you,  and  send 
you  over  here  to  Egypt  to  note  for  our  instruction 
the  wonderful  changes  of  the  century. 

"I  remain,  your  sincere  friend, 

"  Geo.  S.  Batcheller. 
"  International  Tribunal, 
"Cairo,  May  12,  1835." 


From  Hon.  A.  H.  Moncur,  Lord-Provost  of  Dundee^ 

Scotland. 

"  My  dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"  Need  I  say  to  you  that  I  have  read  with  the 
deepest  interest  the  account  of  the  meetings  held 
in  your  honor  in  connection  with  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  your  ministry  in  the  Lafayette  Ave- 
nue Church  ?  With  all  your  other  friends,  I  join  in 
congratulating  you  on  having  been  privileged  to  do 
so  much  good  work  for  the  Master.     Also  that  you 


176  HISTORY   OF  THE 

have  the  prospect  of  still  engaging  in  your  loved 
labors  with  vigor  for  many  years  to  come.  God 
grant  that  it  may  be  so  !  The  Church  and  the 
world  need  such  men  —  the  men  who  can  preach 
the  Gospel  without  any  Mfs '  or  *buts*  or  mental 
reservations  ;  and  who  are  not  afraid  to  speak  out 
in  regard  to  the  drifik  as  well  as  in  regard  to  doubts 
of  God's  word.  Your  Jubilee  services  will  not  only 
cheer  you  to  raise  an  *Ebenezer' — but  like  Paul, 
you  will  more  than  ever  *  thank  God  and  take  cour- 
age.' May  you  long  live  to  speak  as  powerfully  for 
the  Truth  as  you  have  hitherto  done  !  My  house  is 
at  your  service  when  you  visit  old  Dundee. 
"  Yours  very  sincerely, 

"A.  H.  MoNCUR." 


From  Rev.  Dr.  J.  R.  Miller,  Philadelphia. 

''April  2,  1885. 
*'  My  dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"  I  can  not  allow  your  anniversary  to  pass  without 
sending  you  a  word  of  loving  thanks  for  the  bits  of 
green  grass  the  faithful  shepherd  at  Lafayette  Ave- 
nue has  gathered  for  07ie  of  his  flock.  I  am  one  of 
the  outside  sheep,  but  I  have  fed  many  a  time,  never- 
theless, at  your  hand.  After  my  first  year  in  the 
seminary  I  was  for  three  years  in  the  army,  in  the 
U.  S.  Christian   Commission.     There  I  learned  to 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  1 77 

read  your  articles  in  the  Itidependenf,  Evangelist^  and 
the  other  papers,  and  found  such  good  picking  that, 
ever  since,  I  read  everything  I  see  from  your  pen. 
It  was  in  1863  that  I  first  began  to  feed  at  your 
hand,  that  was  twenty  years  since.  So  I  can  almost 
claim  to  have  been  one  of  your  first  members  at 
Lafayette  Avenue.  I  join,  therefore,  most  heartily 
in  the  congratulations  of  the  multitude  of  friends 
that  will  speak  or  send  to  you  their  greetings  on 
this  happy  occasion.  I  thank  God  that  He  has 
spared  you  to  reach  this  landmark  in  your  pastor- 
ate. I  thank  Him  that  you  have  been  permitted  to 
exert  such  a  wide  influence  in  the  land  and  in  all 
Christian  lands,  by  your  pen. 

"  As  I  go  on  in  life,  I  learn  that  the  only  things 
really  worth  living  for  and  toiling  are  to  attain 
Christ-likeness  ourselves  and  to  help  others  to  live 
better.  You  have  done  noble  service  for  others  by 
helping  them  to  live  truer,  nobler,  sweeter  lives. 
Your  words  have  comforted  the  sorrowing,  helped 
the  tempted  to  be  strong,  lifted  the  stumbling  feet 
over  rough  places,  turned  perplexed  souls  toward 
the  clear-shining  star,  quickened  the  indolent  into 
energy  and  the  despairing  into  hope,  inspired  good 
men  and  women  everywhere  with  desires  for  greater 
usefulness,  and — best  of  all — pointed  hundreds  of 
lost  ones  to  the  Lamb  of  God. 

"  You  v/ill  never  know  till  you  reach  home,  and 
8* 


1/8  HISTORY   OF  THE 

the  Master  tells  you,  how  much  good  you  have  done 
by  your  pen  alone,  in  that  larger  congregation  out- 
side your  church  walls,  that  by  this  means  are  priv- 
ileged to  share  your  ministry  and  learn  the  good 
things  which  your  heart  has  to  utter.  This  part  of 
your  audience  is  silent  while  you  speak,  but  is  never- 
theless profited  ;  some  day,  too,  you  will  hear  the 
words  of  acknowledgment  and  gratitude  which  these 
thousands  shall  have  to  speak. 

"  I  am  strongly  tempted  to  run  over  to  Brooklyn 
Saturday  night,  and  be  one  of  the  Sunday  throng  ; 
it  would  be  a  rare  pleasure,  but  as  I  can  not  possibly 
do  this,  I  write  to  you  from  a  full  and  loving  heart 
these  lines. 

"  May  you  long  be  spared  to  feed  your  flock,  to 
lead  them  into  the  green  pastures  and  beside  the 
still  waters,  to  feed  the  kids  beside  the  shepherds' 
tent,  and  to  throw  bits  over  the  low  fence  for  us 
hungry  sheep  outside. 

"  With  sincere  affection,  I  sign  myself 
"  One  of  your  parishioners, 

"J.  R.  Miller." 

From  Rev.  Dr.   Adam  McClelland^  Professor  in  Du- 
buque Theological  Seminary^  loiva. 

"  Dubuque,  Iowa,  April  6,  1885. 
"  My  dear  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

"Permit  me  from  a  full  heart  to  add  my  congratu- 
lations to  those  that  now  arise  from  a  host  of  your 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  1 79 

friends  in  both  hemispheres,  yes,  and  in  both  worlds; 
for  doubtless  dear  departed  ones  that  still  cherish 
memories  of  their  beloved  earthly  shepherd  are  in 
accord  with  the  grateful  joyousness  which  reached 
its  climax  in  your  church  yesterday.  Never  was  a 
Hebrew  mother  led  to  a  more  appropriate  name 
for  her  first-born  than  was  Mrs.  Cuyler  when  she 
named  her  son  Theodore.  Truly  you  have  been 
a  gift  from  God,  not  only  to  her,  but  also  to  the 
entire  Church  of  Christ.  Were  a  rechristening  in 
order  on  such  festivities  as  those  of  yesterday,  your 
venerable  parent  might  well  have  added  to  the  mu- 
sical Greek  appellation  the  significant  *  Jedidiah  '  of 
the  Hebrew  tongue  ;  for  to  an  unusual  degree  your 
entire  life,  and  especially  your  ministry,  prove  you 
to  be  the  beloved  of  Jehovah.  Herein  is  found  the 
primal  cause  of  the  peace,  prosperity,  and  abundant 
fruitfulness  of  your  pastorate,  as  well  as  of  the 
Christian  virtues  that  have  shone  in  your  character. 
Of  one  of  these  I  must  speak,  because  I  believe  that 
this  more  than  any  other  single  quality  has  been 
under  God  the  secret  of  your  success.  I  mean  your 
Christ-like  kindness  of  heart. 

"  It  is  the  fervent  prayer  of  my  wife  and  children 
that  many  blessed  years  may  be  yet  granted  you 
with  your  beloved  flock,  and  that  your  hand  may 
long  continue  to  be  that  of  a  ready  writer.  I  can 
not  better  express  my  own  desires  concerning  you. 


l80  HISTORY   OF  THE 

than  in  the  earnest  wish  that  in  you  may  be  fully 
realized  and  illustrated  the  beautiful  figure  of  the 
Lord's  stately  palm-tree  (Ps.  92  :  12),  and  which  the 
Scotch  version  has  with  quaintness  and  force  ren- 
dered thus  : 

•  And  in  old  age  when  others  fade 
The  fruit  still  forth  shall  bring ; 
He  shall  be  fat  and  full  of  sap. 
And  aye  be  flourishing.' 

'*  I  am,  dear  Doctor,  most  truly  yours, 

"A  McClelland." 


From  Mrs,  M.  G.  H.,  a  former  Parishioner, 

"  My  dear  old  Pastor  : 

"  The  Brooklyn  papers  of  Monday  and  Tuesday 
were  read  by  us  with  delight ;  but  not  without  long- 
ing nor  with  dry  eyes.     I  could  see  and  hear  each 

action  and  word  of  yours  as  L read  the  paper 

for  us.  Your  revered  name  is  a  household  charm  ; 
and  our  home  has  been  founded  and  grown  up  on 
the  principles  of  your  pious  teachings,  and  we  have 
never  forgotten  any  of  them.  With  the  help  of  our 
Heavenly  Father  we  never  will.  Just  think  !  you 
could  never  preach  one  sermon  that  I  heard  during 
those  seven  years,  that  I  would  not  remember  !  I 
listened  in  reverence  and  love  ;   and  have  tried  to 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  l8l 

live  as  you  taught  us.  Our  love  for  you  will  never 
cease  here  or  hereafter.  I  know  you  have  hundreds 
of  letters  and  friends  like  us  ;  and  I  know  you  will 
read  mine  too,  or  I  would  not  have  written  it. 

"  With  grateful  affection,  your  friend, 

"M.  G.  H. 

"  Sag  Harbor,  L.  I., 
''April  8,  1885." 


From  Rev.  Dr.  George  F.  Fejitecost^  Brooklyn. 
"  My  dear  and  venerable  young  Brother  : 

"  It  was  a  grief  to  me  not  to  be  at  your  Jubilee 
last  Monday  evening  ;  but  I  was  in  cast-iron  bonds 
to  another  engagement.  But  among  them  all  there 
was  not  one  more  sincerely  proud  of  you  than  was  I. 
For  years  you  have  been  an  inspiration  and  a  spur 
to  me.  May  God  give  you  a  long  and  blessed  pull 
*on  the  home-stretch,'  and  bring  you  in  under  the 
line  a  victor  and  a  prize-winner. 
"  Yours  evermore, 

"Geo.  F.  Pentecost. 
^^  Fhilippians  3  :  13,  14." 


In  addition  to  these  letters,  the  following  brief  messages 
were  senty  by  telegraph  or  otherwise. 

"  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
"  Heartiest  congratulations  to  the  King,  who  by 
his  incomparable  work  has  made  his  pulpit  a  throne  ! 


1 82  HISTORY   OF  THE 

May  the  past  be  a  prophecy  of  the  greater  glory  of 

the  future.     May  it  be  long  before  Heaven  comes 

to  claim  its  own  !   God  save  the  Pastor  of  Lafayette 

Avenue  Church ! 

"James  B.  Shaw, 

^^  Pastor  of  Brick  Presbyterian  Church'* 


"  Windsor  Hotel,  N.  Y., 

"Aj>ri/  6,  1885. 
"  Rev.  Dr.  Cuyler  : 

*'  I  regret  that  prior  engagements  deprive  me  of 
the  pleasure  of  attending  the  reception  to-night. 
Please  accept  my  best  wishes  for  long-continued 
health,  life,  and  usefulness. 

"  Alonzo  B.  Cornell, 
"  Ex-Governor  of  New  York'' 


"Clifton  Springs,  ^/r/7  6,  1885. 
"Dr.  T.  L.  Cuyler: 

"  Warmest  Christian  congratulations  on  your 
quarter-century  anniversary.  You  have  comforted 
many  of  God's  children  by  your  '  Light  on  Dark 
Clouds.*      See  Luke,  19th  chapter,  13th  verse,  last 

clause. 

"  Geogre  H.  Stuart, 

''  of  Philadelphia:' 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE  CHURCH.  183 

After  the  exercises  in  the  church  many  of  the 
guests  adjourned  to  the  church-parlors,  where  an- 
other hour  was  spent  in  exchanging  greetings  with 
former  mem.bers  of  the  church  and  with  the  pastor. 
Thus  terminated  a  joyful  Jubilee,  which  from  its 
inception  to  its  close  was  not  marred  with  a  single 
untoward  incident.  The  thanks  of  both  the  con- 
gregation and  of  the  pastor  are  due  to  the  efficient 
Committees  who  so  skillfully  planned  and  success- 
fully carried  out  the  Festival. 


1 84  HISTORY   OF   THE 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  AND  METH- 
ODS OF  CHURCH  WORK. 

BY    THE    PASTOR. 


Although  my  personal  connection  with 
Lafayette  Avenue  Cliurch  dates  from  April, 
i860,  it  is  proper  that  I  should  narrate  some 
of  the  leading  facts  in  its  experience  previous 
to  that  time.  The  project  of  forming  a  new 
Presbyterian  church  in  this  part  of  the  city 
probably  originated  with  Mr.  Edward  A. 
Lambert,  the  ex-Mayor  of  Brooklyn,  and  at 
that  time  an  active  member  of  the  ''  South 
Presbyterian  Church,"  then  under  the  pastoral 
charge  of  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Spear.  The  divi- 
sion of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  into 
''  Old  "  and  ''  New  Schools  "  still  existed,  and 
there  was  already  an  ''  Old  School "  church 
which  worshipped  in  an  unfinished  edifice  on 
the  corner  of  Greene  and  Clermont  Avenues. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  1 85 

The  building  is  now  owned  by  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  "  Church  of  the  Messiah." 

Mr.  Lambert  invited  several  gentlemen  to 
meet  at  his  residence  on  Clinton  Avenue  on 
the  evening  of  May  i6,  1857,  to  consult  to- 
gether in  reference  to  the  formation  of  a 
church  which  should  be  under  the  care  of  the 
"  New  School "  Presbytery  of  Brooklyn. 
Some  of  these  gentlemen  were  associated  with 
him  in  Dr.  Spear's  congregation.  The  meet- 
ing was  held,  and  after  prayer  and  deliberation, 
it  was  resolved,  "that  in  the  Providence  of 
God  the  time  has  now  arrived  when  it  is  not 
only  desirable  but  expedient  that  a  Presby- 
terian church  should  be  organized  in  the 
Eleventh  Ward  to  be  connected  with  the 
Presbytery  of  Brooklyn."  A  committee  was 
appointed  to  take  the  necessary  steps  to  fur- 
ther the  object  contemplated  in  the  resolution. 
A  public  meeting  was  accordingly  called  for 
the  i6th  of  June.  It  was  held  in  a  small 
brick  chapel  then  standing  on  the  corner  of 
Carlton  and  DeKalb  Avenues.  The  chapel 
had  been  originally  built  for  a  mission  station, 


1 86  HISTORY   OF  THE 

and  for  some  time  had  been  occupied  by  the 
*'  Park  Congregational  Church,"  under  the 
ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Batcheller.  At  the 
meeting  on  the  i6th  of  June  it  was  unani- 
mously resolved  to  organize  a  Presbyterian 
church  ;  and  arrangements  were  also  made  to 
purchase  the  brick  chapel  from  our  Congrega- 
tional brethren,  who  soon  after  disbanded 
their  church  organization.  Trustees  were 
elected  at  that  meeting,  and  the  name  chosen 
for  the  new  organization  was  the  ''  Park  Pres- 
byterian Church."  At  an  adjourned  meeting 
on  the  29th  of  June,  they  adopted  the  follow- 
ing 

CONSTITUTION. 

1.  The  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America  is  hereby  adopted  as 
the  constitution  of  this  church. 

2.  Every  member  in  good  and  regular  standing 
shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  all  elections  for  officers 
of  the  church. 

3.  The  Session  of  this  church  shall  be  composed 
of  three  or  more  ruling  Elders^  to  be  divided  into 
three  classes.  The  first  class  shall  hold  office  for 
one  year,  the  second  for  two  years,  and  the  third  for 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  1 87 

three  years  from  the  first  election  ;  and  at  every 
subsequent  election  one  class  of  elders  shall  be 
elected  for  three  years.  Elders  shall  continue  to  be 
members  of  the  Session  until  their  places  are  filled 
by  a  new  election,  and  the  same  individuals  may  be 
re-elected  as  often  as  their  terms  of  service  expire. 

4.  Any  ordained  elder  who  has  once  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Session,  may  be  invited  to  sit  as  a  corre- 
sponding member. 

5.  There  shall  be  three  or  more  deacons,  to  be 
divided  into  three  classes,  and  to  be  elected  at  the 
same  time,  for  the  same  term,  and  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  in  the  case  of  ruling  elders. 

6.  The  annual  meeting  of  the  church  for  the  elec- 
tion of  officers  shall  be  held  on  the  second  Wednes- 
day in  January  in  each  year,  when  the  annual  re- 
ports of  the  Session  and  of  the  Board  of  Deacons 
shall  be  presented. 

7.  Candidates  for  admission  to  this  church  on  con- 
fession of  their  faith,  shall  be  publicly  propounded 
at  least  one  week  previous  to  their  admission,  unless 
the  Session  in  special  cases,  by  an  unanimous  vote, 
shall  waive  for  the  time  being  the  operation  of  this 
rule. 

8.  The  Lord's  Supper  shall  be  administered  once 
in  every  two  months,  at  such  time  as  the  Session 
shall  appoint. 


1 88  HISTORY   OF  THE 

A  petition  was  presented  to  the  Presbytery 
of  Brooklyn,  asking  them  to  hold  a  special 
meeting  to  organize  the  new  church  according 
to  the  rules  and  usages  of  our  denomination. 
The  Presbvterv  convened  on  the  ninth  of 
July,  1857,  in  the  Carlton  Avenue  Chapel, 
and  duly  constituted  the  Park  Presbyterian 
Church.  Forty-eight  persons — sixteen  males 
and  thirty-two  females — were  enrolled  as  its 
original  members.  They  were  :  Harrison 
Teller,  Mrs.  Ann  E.  Teller,  Sarah  Teller,  Zil- 
pah  Teller,  John  Rhodes,  Mrs.  Eliza  Rhodes, 
Thomas  C.  Dodd,  Mrs.  Ann  E.  Dodd,  Mrs. 
Wealthy  Cowl,  Mrs.  Jane  A.  B.  Smith,  Mrs. 
Theresa  Smith,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  B.  Bate,  Lo- 
renzo D.  Simons,  Mrs.  Lydia  A.  Simons, 
Charles  J.  Ketcham,  Mrs.  Harriet  A.  Ketch- 
am,  John  E.  Smith,  Elvira  White,  Anna 
Maria  Havens,  Abby  T.  Havens,  Julia  Col- 
lins, Roxana  C.  Moore,  Mrs.  Angelina  E. 
Trumbull,  Eliza  A.  Trumbull,  Lansing  E. 
Hopkins,  Mrs.  Pamelia  Hopkins,  Mary  E. 
Hopkins,  Mrs.  Huldah  J.  Packard,  George 
W.  Corwin,  Mrs.  Pamelia  Corwin,  Joseph  D. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  1 89 

West,  Mrs.  Harriet  J.  West,  Mrs.  Ann  Mum- 
ford,  William  Mumford,  Mary  A.  Mumford, 
Elizabeth  Tibbetts,  James  W.  Wheeler,  Jo- 
siah  Widnell,  Mrs.  Emily  Widnell,  Ralph 
Hunt,  Albert  S.  Waite,  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Waite, 
Mary  Ann  Gardner,  Nathanael  W.  Burtis, 
Mrs.  Zeruah  A.  C.  Burtis,  Mary  Bartlett, 
Vernon  Thompson,  and  Mrs.  Eleanor  J. 
Thompson. 

The  first  Elders  of  the  church  were  Messrs. 
Nathanael  W.  Burtis,  Josiah  Widnell,  and  Dr. 
Harrison  Teller.  The  first  Deacons  were 
John  Rhodes  and  Ralph  Hunt.  The  Trustees 
were  Messrs.  Edward  A.  Lambert,  N.  W. 
Burtis,  Lorenzo  D.  Simons,  Vernon  Thomp- 
son, Charles  J.  Ketcham,  and  John  G.  Voor- 
hees. 

Soon  after  its  organization,  the  young 
church  invited  Professor  Roswell  D.  Hitch- 
cock, of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  in 
New  York,  to  supply  its  pulpit.  His  elo- 
quent and  edifying  discourses  immediately 
attracted  such  congregations  that  the  small 
brick  chapel   could   not   contain    them.      A 


190  HISTORY    OF  THE 

wooden  addition  to  the  building  was  erected 
on  the  end  toward  DeKalb  Avenue,  and  this 
enlarged  edifice  was  soon  filled  to  overflowing. 
Externally  it  was  such  an  unsightly  structure 

that  the  Rev.  Dr.  C once  said  to  me  :  *'  I 

can  not  tell  what  is  the  handsomest  church 
building  I  have  ever  seen,  but  your  Carlton 
Avenue  chapel  is  certainly  the  homeliest."  Its 
interior,  however,  was  very  cosy  and  inviting, 
and  when  '*  Uncle  "  John  Smith,  the  original 
sexton,  had  lighted  and  garnished  it,  he  took 
an  honest  pride  in  its  cheerful  appearance.  It 
held  between  seven  and  eight  hundred  audi- 
tors. During  Professor  Hitchcock's  brief  but 
powerful  ministry,  the  great  "  Revival  of 
1858"  was  in  progress  over  the  whole  land, 
and  the  young  Park  church  shared  in  its  rich 
spiritual  blessings.  As  his  duties  in  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  required  the  Professor's  en- 
tire attention,  he  withdrew  from  the  Park 
church  pulpit  in  January,  1859.  ^^  recom- 
mended to  the  church  that  they  should  call 
the  Rev,  Lyman  Whiting,  of  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire,  to  the  pastoral  charge.     Dr. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  I9I 

Whiting  accepted  the  call  and  came  on,  and 
occupied  the  pulpit  for  about  six  months ; 
but  he  was  never  installed  as  pastor.  Some 
of  the  causes  of  my  excellent  brother's  dis- 
couragement I  have  alluded  to  in  my  ''  His- 
torical Discourse."  A  perusal  of  his  hearty 
letter  of  congratulation  sent  to  our  Jubilee 
gathering  will  reveal  what  manner  of  bright, 
genial,  and  original  man  he  is.  His  brief  but 
faithful  labors  terminated  in  August,  1859. 

Then  came  five  dreary  months  of  vacant 
pulpit  and  embarrassed  finances  which  would 
have  exhausted  the  courage  of  a  less  brave 
and  resolute  body  of  earnest  Christians.  A 
proposal  was  made  to  them  to  "  consolidate  " 
with  the  Old  School  Presbyterian  church  on 
Greene  Avenue ;  but  the  proposal  was  de- 
clined. (The  Greene  Avenue  Church  itself 
was  long  ago  disbanded.)  How  much  the 
young  church  owed,  in  those  dark  days,  to  the 
indefatigable  energy  and  hopeful  spirit  of  Mrs. 
John  Rhodes,  can  never  be  fully  appreciated. 
This  venerable  woman  was  as  immovable  as 
the  **  Green   Mountains "  of  her  native  Ver- 


192  HISTORY   OF  THE 

mont,  and  she  exhorted  her  associates  never 
to  surrender  as  long  as  the  imperilled  enter- 
prise could  be  kept  afloat. 

During  that  period  of  pastorless  discourage- 
ment, three  young  members  of  the  church, 
Messrs.  Henry  Mumford,  John  E.  Miller,  and 
Frank  H.  Knapp,  came  over  to  call  on  me  in 
New  York.  I  was  then  the  pastor  of  the  Market 
Street  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church,  and  Mr. 
Knapp  had  once  been  one  of  my  parishioners. 
They  inquired  whether  I  would  be  willing 
to  preach  for  the  ''  Park  "  a  sermon  or  two ; 
but  being  very  busy,  and  never  having  heard 
of  the  existence  of  such  a  church,  I  declined 
their  request,  and  soon  forgot  it.  On  the 
evening  of  February  7,  i860,  the  Park  church 
held  a  meeting  to  consider  the  condition  of 
things,  and  to  devise  some  measures  of  relief. 
A  Trustee — the  late  Mr.  Vernon  Thompson 
— proposed  that  a  call  be  extended  to  me  to 
become  the  pastor  of  the  church.  The  propo- 
sition received  an  unanimous  vote  ;  but  hardly 
a  person  in  the  house  supposed  that  it  would 
ever  receive  any  serious  attention.     A  name 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  I93 

seemed  to  be  needed  as  a  "  belaying  pin  "  to  coil 
the  last  rope  around  ;  and  my  own  was  the 
most  convenient  for  the  purpose.  When  Mr. 
N.  W.  Burtis  brought  me  the  notification  of 
the  call,  I  gave  him  about  the  same  answer 
that  I  had  given  to  the  three  young  brethren 
a  'few  days  before.  I  sent  my  official  acknowl- 
edgment and  declinature  of  the  call,  which 
Mr.  Lambert  put  in  his  pocket,  and  carried 
there  for  several  weeks  lest  the  public  an- 
nouncement of  it  should  still  further  dis- 
hearten the  church  in  its  effort  to  provide  for 
the  payment  of  an  impending  debt.  When 
I  called  on  Mr.  Lambert  at  his  store,  toward 
the  end  of  March,  I  found  that  my  reply  was 
still  in  his  possession,  and  had  never  been  re- 
ported to  the  "  Park  "  congregation.  During 
that  interview,  I  told  him  that  if  he  would 
bring  over  some  of  the  leading  representa- 
tives of  his  church,  I  had  an  offer  to  propose 
to  them.  It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  the  re- 
sult, as  I  have  narrated  it  already  in  my  Anni- 
versary Discourse.  I  may  add,  however,  as  a 
curious  fact,  that  when  I  came  over  with  my 


194  HISTORY   OF  THE 

wife  to  explore  this  region  of  Brooklyn,  and 
we  were  strolling  through  the  solitudes  of 
Vanderbilt  Avenue,  she  remarked :  **  This  is 
certainly  a  quiet  and  pleasant  region  to  reside 
in,  but  as  it  is  your  business  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  I  do  not  see  where  the  people  are  to 
make  a  congregation."  Within  two  years 
from  that  time  Lafayette  Avenue  Church  edi- 
fice was  erected  and  scores  of  new  houses 
were  filled  by  the  incoming  tide  of  occupants. 
Had  my  decision  been  delayed  even  one 
month  longer,  the  ground  on  which  our 
church  now  stands  would  have  been  sold  by 
its  owner,  Mr.  Underbill,  for  the  erection  of 
private  residences.  My  installation  as  pas- 
tor of  the  "  Park  Church  "  took  place  on  the 
evening  of  Tuesday,  April  24th.  In  No- 
vember of  that  year  ground  was  broken  for 
the  new  building  on  Lafayette  Avenue.  It 
was  completed  by  the  i6th  of  March,  1862, 
and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Asa  D.  Smith,  of  New 
York  (afterward  President  of  Dartmouth  Cob 
lege),  delivered  the  discourse  at  the  service  of 
dedication.     Professor  Hitchcock  preached  in 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  I95 

the  evening,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  S. 
Robinson,  of  Brooklyn,  who  had  rendered  to 
us  much  valuable  assistance,  conducted  the 
devotional  services.  The  situation  of  our  new 
sanctuary  has  proved  to  be  a  happy  one  ;  its 
acoustics  are  faultless,  and  the  subsequent  ad- 
ditions of  the  Sunday-school  Hall  and  the 
beautiful  social  parlors  have  greatly  enlarged 
its  capacities  and  facilities  for  usefulness. 
When  it  was  erected  the  building  was  regarded 
as  a  model  both  for  commodiousness  and  for 
cheapness. 

So  moderate  was  the  price  of  real  estate  in 
this  neighborhood  that  the  land  cost  only 
$  1 2,000,  and  the  edifice  itself  was  built  for  only 
$42,000  !  It  was  modelled  in  its  interior  after 
Plymouth  Church  (Rev.  H.  W.  Beecher's), 
and  seats  the  same  number  of  people.  Messrs. 
Grimshaw  and  Morrill  were  the  architects. 

Two  strong  attractions  drew  me  toward  the 
infant  enterprise  on  this  hill.  One  was  a  de- 
sire to  labor  for  the  upbuilding  of  a  new 
church  in  a  new  and  growing  region  of  a  large 
city.     The   other  was   a   sympathy  with   the 


196  HISTORY   OF  THE 

tone  and  the  spirit  of  the  Park  church,  as  far 
as  I  had  been  able  to  study  them,  and  with 
their  progressive  purposes  and  methods. 
Their  newly-launched  craft — to  use  a  nautical 
simile — was  well-built,  well-rigged,  had  stood 
rough  weather  bravely,  and  had  no  barnacles 
of  bad  precedents  and  practices  adhering  to  it. 
A  new  church  can  make  its  own  precedents. 
Among  the  excellent  features  of  the  church 
which  had  just  invited  me  was  the  adoption 
of  what  is  known  as  the  rotation  method  in 
the  election  of  all  its  officers.  If  the  term 
principle  is  a  wise  one  when  applied  to  the 
secular  office  of  a  Trustee,  it  is  equally  wise 
when  applied  to  the  spiritual  office  of  an  Elder. 
An  efficient  Elder  can  be  re-elected  at  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term  of  active  service  ;  an  in- 
efficient one  can  be  quietly  dropped.  Those 
who  have  served  for  several  years,  and  wish  to 
make  room  for  others  to  come  in  and  share 
the  honors  and  the  burthens  of  the  office,  have 
the  opportunity  to  withdraw  voluntarily  at  the 
expiration  of  their  term.  In  this  way  the 
eldership  and  deaconship   become  fresh  run- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  I97 

ning  streams,  and  not  stationary  pools  with 
danger  of  sluggishness  and  stagnation.  Dur- 
ing these  twenty-five  years  no  less  than  thirty- 
two  brethren  have  held  the  office  of  Ruling 
Elder ;  the  membership  of  the  Board  has  en- 
tirely changed  within  that  time.  Over  forty 
persons  have  held  the  office  of  Deacon,  and 
nearly  as  many  have  served  as  Trustees.  This 
system  of  rotation  has  thus  afforded  a  wide 
scope  for  utilizing  the  spiritual  gifts  and  work- 
ing talents  of  our  membership.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  list  of  the  officers  of  the  church  since 
its  organization  in  1857  : 

RULING  ELDERS. 

N.  W.  BuRTis,  Wm.  S.  Alexander, 

josiah  widnell,  gilbert  h.  white, 

Dr.  Harrison  Teller,  T.  M.  Spelman, 

Edward  A.  Lambert,  Henry  A.  Richardson. 

Dr.  Caleb  Hill,  James  Robinson, 

William  Churchill,  William  Mumford, 

Parsons  C.  Hastings,  Geo.  W.  Edelman, 

William  VV.  Wickes,  Daniel  W.  Fish, 

Gurdon  Burchard,  John  K.  Vanslyke, 

Henry  Mills,  D.  W.  McWilliams, 

William  Charters,  Michael  Snow, 

Jarvis  Carman,  H.  B.  Griffing, 


198 


HISTORY   OF   THE 


Ira  Edward  Thurber, 
Charles  B.  Pearson, 
Edgar  C.  Patterson, 
Edward  C.  Seymour, 


Dr.  V.  Morse, 
Henry  C.  Brown, 
John  N.  Beach, 
Coll.  J.  Turner. 


John  Rhodes, 
Ralph  Hunt, 
MiLO  Root, 
J.  A.  Brainard, 
A.  Ferdinand  Cross, 
Thos.  T.  Barr, 
Theodore  Ross, 
Caleb  V.  Smith, 
A.  G.  Vancleve, 
Thomas  C.  Dodd, 
Joseph  A.  Dudley, 
Jarvis  Carman, 
William  Mumford, 
Gilbert  H.  White, 
Charles  E.  Tuthill, 
D.  Kellogg  Baker, 
Deforest  E.  Plant, 
John  Mitchell, 
Hiram  B.  Jackson, 
H.  B.  Griffing, 
Coleman  Benedict, 
Robert  W.  Patterso 


DEACONS. 

Wm.  C.  Prankard, 

D.  W.  McWiLLIAMS, 

Joseph  Fahys, 
Nicholas  Degroot, 
George  D.  Kimber, 
Samuel  Brush, 
Wm.  a.  Brush, 
Jas.  H.  Boynton, 
Dr.  F.  W.  Dolbeare, 
Edgar  Forman, 
James  Matthews, 
R.  Cowperthwaite, 
William  B.  See, 

E.  Henry  Boardman, 
George  W.  Edelman, 
Charles  H.  Hobart, 
Geo.  H.  Titus, 
John  D.  Fish, 
Benjamin  Stephens, 
Samuel  T.  Dauchy, 
William  T.  Whitmore, 

K.        Edward  R.  Chapel. 


TRUSTEES. 
Nathanael  W.  Burtis,       Rufus  Crook, 
E.  A.  Lambert,  Lorenzo  D.  Simons, 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH. 


199 


Charles  J.  Ketcham, 
T.  E.  Hastings, 
Wm.  a.  Doolittle, 
Vernon  Thompson, 
Albion  P.  Higgins, 
John  G.  Voorhees, 
George  W.  Kendall, 
Robert  Murray, 
Barlow  Stevens, 
Stephen  N.  Reeves, 
Benson  Van  Vliet, 
Samuel  Duncan, 
Benjamin  F.  Metcalf, 
Luke  T.  Merrill, 
John  M.  Wardwell, 
Birdseye  Blakeman, 
Michael  Snow, 


CURRAN  DiNSMORE, 

p.  W.  Gallaudet, 
T.  M.  Delaney, 
Henry  L.  Bardwell, 
Zadock  M.  Bacon, 
Edward  L.  Kalbfleisch, 
Alvah  Oatman, 
Chester  M.  Foster, 
David  H.  Houghtaling, 
Zadock  H.  Jarman, 
Wm.  W.  Goodrich, 
Valentine  Snedeker, 
Dr.  William  Jarvie, 
George  L.  Pease, 
Thos.  T.  Barr, 
Joseph  Fahys, 
W.  S.  Sillcox. 


A  cardinal  principle  in  this  church  from  its 
earliest  day  has  been  that  the  weekly  devo- 
tional meetings  should  be  under  the  charge 
of  the  lay-officers  of  the  congregation.  The 
Monday  evening  meetings  are  conducted  by 
the  members  of  the  Young  People's  Associ- 
ation. The  Friday  evening  meetings,  and  all 
the  general  prayer-meetings  of  the  congrega- 
tion have  always  been  led  by  the  Elders,  in 
alphabetical  order.     Usually,  the  topic  for  the 


200  HISTORY   OF  THE 

evening  is  chosen  by  the  leader,  and  announced 
from  the  pulpit  on  the  previous  Sabbath. 
The  meetings  are  thrown  open  for  all  who  are 
present  to  participate.  This  method  has  in- 
sured a  wider  freedom,  a  more  family-like 
familiarity  of  spiritual  intercourse,  and  also  the 
development  of  personal  gifts  and  graces.  It 
is  better  to  risk  an  occasional  disturbing  moth 
in  the  candle  of  public  devotion  than  it  is  to 
surround  the  candle  with  a  screen  of  restric- 
tions. We  have  always  regarded  the  prayer- 
meetings  as  the  spiritual  thermometer  of  the 
church  ;  they  have  often  overtaxed  the  capac- 
ity of  our  lecture-room,  and  during  this  past 
year  have  shown  no  diminution  of  numbers 
and  interest.  To  popularize  and  to  spiritualize 
the  gatherings  for  prayer,  are  among  the  most 
vital  problems  in  the  management  of  every 
evangelical  church.  They  should  never  de- 
generate into  either  a  dormitory  or  a  debating 
society. 

Another  cardinal  principle  with  us  has  ever 
been  to  enlist  the  members  of  the  church  as 
widely  as  possible  in  religious  and  benevolent 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  201 

activities.  I  have  found  it  expedient  to  con- 
fine myself  chiefly  to  the  duties  of  the  pulpit 
and  the  pastorate  with  the  co-operation  of  the 
Board  of  Elders — and  leaving  the  oversight 
of  the  financial  affairs  to  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, the  care  of  the  poor  to  the  Deacons  and 
the  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society — the  manage- 
ment of  the  Sabbath-school  to  its  Superintend- 
ent and  teachers — the  arrangements  for  our 
musical  services  to  the  appropriate  commit- 
tee, and  the  operations  of  the  various  benevo- 
lent societies  to  the  control  of  their  respective 
officers.  Too  many  hands  ''on  the  wheel" 
are  apt  to  run  any  vessel  aground.  I  hold  that 
it  is  the  province  of  the  pastor  to  supervise 
the  whole  work  of  his  church,  but  never  to 
relieve  any  officer  or  member  from  his  or  her 
entire  personal  responsibility.  No  pastor  has 
ever  been  more  cordially  seconded  by  the 
hearty  and  united  co-operation  of  his  flock. 
A  serious  dissension  has  never  occurred  during 
a  quarter  of  a  century. 

In  those  chapters  of  this  volume  which  are 
devoted  to  the  Sabbath-schools  and  Mission- 
9* 


202  HISTORY  OF  THE 

schools  and  to  the  Young  People's  Associ- 
ation, will  be  found  the  history  of  their  useful 
labors.  But  in  many  other  departments  of 
usefulness,  our  members  have  found  an  outlet 
for  their  zeal  in  the  service  of  Christ.  Some 
of  these  now  occur  to  me.  The  late  Thomas 
D.  Williams — who  had  once  been  licensed  to 
preach  as  an  Evangelist,  and  who  had  been  an 
Elder  in  Dr.  Rockwell's  church — was  for 
several  years  engaged  as  the  religious  teacher 
and  guide  of  the  sailors  in  the  Brooklyn  Navy 
Yard.  He  endeared  himself  to  hundreds  of 
these  sons  of  the  sea,  and  led  many  of  them 
to  the  Saviour.  Brother  Williams  possessed 
the  consecrated  spirit  of  Harlan  Page.  He 
wore  out  his  life  in  hard  work,  and  passed 
away — honored  and  lamented — to  his  rest  in 
1882. 

For  several  years  our  faithful  Elder,  Mr. 
Gurdon  Burchard,  devoted  his  entire  time  to 
visitation  of  the  flock  and  to  various  labors 
among  the  poor  and  the  afliicted  as  my  lay- 
helper.  Our  venerated  Deacon,  the  late  Milo 
Root,  performed  the  same  services  during  two 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  203 

or  three  years  in  the  early  days  of  the  church. 
In   the   management  of   the   Brooklyn   City 
Missionary    Society,     Messrs.    William    W. 
Wickes,   Alfred   H.   Porter,   and  D.  W.  Mc- 
Williams  have  taken  a  prominent  official  part. 
Mr.  Michael  Snow  has  found  a  field  for  his 
activity  in  the  presidency  of  the  '*  Children's 
Aid  Society  and  Newsboys'  Lodging-House.'* 
To  the  untiring  efforts  of  Mr.  McWilliams, 
more  than  to  any  other  man,  Brooklyn  is  in- 
debted  for   the  splendid  new  edifice  of  the 
**  Young  Men's  Christian  Association."     El- 
der Charles  B.   Pearson  was  for  many  years 
the  Superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school  in 
the  "  Orphan  Asylum,"  and  Mr.  John  R.  Day- 
ton was  the  moving  spirit  in  "  Our  Mission  " 
once  located  in  Adelphi   Street.     Miss  Kate 
Waterbury,  the  daughter  of  the  beloved  Dr. 
J.  L.  Waterbury,  is  now  the  missionary  of  the 
Ladies'  Benevolent  Society — engaged  in  visi- 
tation of  the  poor  ;  and  Mrs.  Louise  J.  Cuddy 
has   voluntarily  devoted   her   unselfish   ener- 
gies to  the  poverty-stricken  and  destitute  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Hamilton  Ferry.     The 


204  HISTORY  OF  THE 

**  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union  "  of 
Brooklyn  owes  its  origin  to  a  meeting  held 
in  this  church  several  years  ago  ;  and  Mrs. 
Hiram  Jackson,  Mrs.  H.  B.  Griffing,  Mrs. 
Samuel  Brush,  and  others  of  our  ladies  are 
among  its  most  untiring  supporters.  To  the 
late  Mrs.  William  Alexander — whose  name  is 
still  fragrant  among  us  as  ointment  poured 
forth,  and  to  Mrs.  D.  W.  Fish — the  "  Marin- 
er's Family  Asylum,"  on  Staten  Island,  has 
been  indebted  for  no  small  share  of  its  pros- 
perity. The  labors  of  Mr.  Alonzo  A.  Plant 
and  his  associates  resulted  in  the  erection  of 
the  Rochester  Avenue  Chapel,  which  is  now 
occupied  by  a  Congregational  church.  Dor- 
cas's needle  is  well  employed  by  the  Young 
Ladies'  *'  Cuyler  Mission-Band." 

To  this  list  might  be  added  the  "  honorable 
women  not  a  few,"  who  are  giving  their  time 
and  services  to  the  furtherance  of  the  "  Orphan 
Asylum,"  "  Home  for  Incurables,"  "  Brooklyn 
Nursery,"  "  Chinese  S.  School  Union,"  **Train- 
ing  School  for  Nurses,"  "  The  Helping  Hand," 
"Old  Ladies'  Home,"  the  "Home  for  Aged 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  20$ 

Men,"  and  several  other  kindred  institutions 
of  charity.  The  influence  of  a  church  is  to  be 
measured  not  merely  by  what  is  done  within 
its  own  doors,  but  also  by  what  is  done  by  its 
members  in  the  community,  and  for  the  pro- 
motion of  Christ's  kingdom. 

Among  the  aggressive  movements  in  which 
our  church  has  borne  an  active  part,  is  the 
Temperance  Reform.  Near  the  close  of  the 
civil  war,  I  narrated,  at  one  of  the  Friday 
evening  prayer-meetings,  some  pathetic  inci- 
dents connected  with  a  lamentable  case  of 
drunkenness  in  one  of  our  families.  A  propo- 
sition was  made  to  organize  a  Church  Tem- 
perance Society,  Such  a  society  was  formed, 
and  for  a  year  or  two  it  held  its  meetings  in 
the  lecture-room.  When  Mr.  Alfred  A.  Rob- 
bins — who  had  inherited  from  his  father  an 
enthusiastic  zeal  in  this  cause — was  elected  to 
the  presidency  of  the  Society,  he  arranged  for 
the  holding  of  a  great  mass  meeting  in  the 
main  church-edifice.  The  Mayor  of  the  city 
was  invited ;  an  attractive  band  of  singers 
secured ;  Dr.  Charles  Jewett,  of  Connecticut, 


206  HISTORY   OF   THE 

was  announced  among  the  speakers,  and  the 
church  was  filled  to  overflowing.  The  pledge 
of  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicants  was 
circulated,  and  a  large  number  of  signatures 
was  obtained.  Since  that  evening,  the  "  La- 
fayette Avenue  Temperance  Society  "  has  had 
nearly  twenty  years  of  successful  activity,  and 
has  wrought  a  wide  and  enduring  influence. 
Among  the  eminent  men  and  women  who 
have  addressed  its  crowded  gatherings  may  be 
named  John  B.  Gough,  WiUiam  E.  Dodge, 
Rev.  Dr.  John  Hall,  Dr.  Jewett,  Hon.  Neal 
Dow,  Horace  Greeley,  Mr.  P.  T.  Barnum, 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Miss  Sarah  F.  Smiley, 
Miss  Frances  Willard,  Mrs.  Foster,  Mrs.  Mary 
Hunt,  Col.  Bain,  John  Taylor  of  London, 
Dr.  Talmage,  Dr.  H.  M.  Scudder,  Edward 
Carswell,  Thomas  Whitaker,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  O. 
Peck,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Pentecost.  The  Hon. 
Henry  Wilson,  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  came  on  from  Washington  purposely 
to  address  our  Society  ;  and  the  Hon.  William 
A.  Buckingham,  the  veteran  '*  War  Gover- 
nor"   of    Connecticut,    also    left   his   official 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE  CHURCH.  20/ 

duties  to  appear  on  our  platform.  My  be- 
loved British  brother,  the  Rev.  Newman  Hall, 
delivered  powerful  addresses  for  us  during 
each  of  his  three  visits  to  America.  The 
chief  aim  of  the  Society  has  been  to  educate 
the  hearts  and  consciences  of  old  and  young 
in  opposition  both  to  the  drinking  usages  and 
the  deadly  snares  of  the  dram-shops.  The 
efforts  of  this  Society  did  much  toward  pio- 
neering the  way  for  the  great  spiritual  awaken- 
ing in  1866.  Its  presidency  has  been  held  by 
Mr.  A.  A.  Robbins,  Mr.  E.  A.  Lambert,  Mr. 
Michael  Snow,  Mr.  H.  B.  Griffing,  Dr.  Fol- 
lett,  and  Mr.  Edgar  Forman. 

From  its  infancy  Lafayette  Avenue  Church 
has  been  blessed  with  frequent  and  precious 
revivals.  It  was  under  one  of  these  gracious 
showers  of  divine  influence  that  we  removed 
into  the  new  church-building  in  March,  1862. 
Another  season  of  quickening  was  enjoyed  in 
1864.  But  the  most  remarkable  outpouring 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  we  have  ever  ex- 
perienced, and  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
ever   known   in   Brooklyn,    occurred  in  Jan- 


2o8  HISTORY   OF  THE 

uaiy,  1866.  It  commenced  on  the  first  even- 
ing of  the  "  Week  of  Prayer"  (January  8th), 
when,  in  spite  of  the  most  intense  severity 
of  cold,  a  large  number  of  the  young  peo- 
ple of  the  church  gathered  at  the  house  of 
the  pastor.  Morning  and  evening  services 
were  held  each  day.  On  Friday  evening  of 
that  week,  amid  a  crowd  of  worshippers,  Mr. 
Rufus  Crook,  Mr.  D.  K.  Baker,  and  some 
others,  arose  and  requested  the  prayers  of 
God's  people  for  their  conversion.  The  as- 
sembly was  deeply  moved — and  that  service 
was  the  beginning  of  a  genuine  Pentecost. 
For  several  successive  weeks  services  were 
held  every  evening ;  meetings  for  young 
ladies  and  for  young  lads  were  held  on  sev- 
eral afternoons ;  the  social  meetings  on  Mon- 
day evenings  required  two  large  houses  to 
accommodate  them.  After  each  service  a 
meeting  for  inquirers  was  held  in  the  pastor's 
study.  Seventy  young  men — nearly  all  new 
converts — were  crowded  into  that  room  on  a 
single  evening.  As  the  good  work  had  begun 
among  our  own  people,  so  it  was  carried  on 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  209 

by  them  until  the  harvest  was  gathered  in. 
With  the  exception  of  a  single  evening  lec- 
ture by  the  late  Dr.  Joel  Parker,  no  aid  was 
sought  from  without.  Our  own  people,  quick- 
ened by  the  Holy  Spirit,  spake  with  their  own 
tongues,  and  like  God's  people  at  the  rebuild- 
ing of  Jerusalem,  "had  a  mind  to  work." 

At  the  communion-season  in  March,  about 
one  hundred  and  forty  souls  were  received 
into  the  fellowship  of  the  church — in  the 
presence  of  such  a  thronged  assembly  that 
hundreds  were  unable  to  find  admission  to 
the  vestibule.  The  communion-season  in  May 
witnessed  a  similar  scene  of  holy  joy.  The 
number  of  new  members  enrolled  during  that 
season  of  spiritual  harvest  amounted  to  three 
hundred  and  thirty  —  of  whom  about  one 
hundred  were  heads  of  families.  On  the 
morning  set  apart  for  the  baptism  of  infants, 
about  fifty  children  were  presented  to  receive 
that  ordinance.  As  I  have  already  stated  in 
my  anniversary  discourse,  a  mission-school  was 
started  in  Warren  Street  (now  Prospect  Place) 
as  one  of  the  fruits  of  that  revival  ;  and  the 


210  HISTORY   OF  THE 

church  into  which   it  grew  was   named  the 
*' Memorial  Presbyterian  Church." 

Next  to  this  work  of  grace,  in  extent  and 
power,  was  the  revival  which  began  in  Jan- 
uary, 1872.  The  new  and  commodious  ''Cal- 
vary Chapel "  (now  occupied  by  the  "  Fort 
Greene  Presbyterian  Church  ")  had  recently 
been  opened.  Mr.  Dwight  L.  Moody  was 
taken  by  his  friend,  Mr.  Mc Williams,  to  see 
the  building,  and  after  admiring  it,  he  re- 
marked, '*  What  a  nice  place  this  would  be  to 
hold  some  Gospel-meetings."  The  suggestion 
was  adopted,  and  Mr.  Moody  commenced 
with  a  prayer-meeting  of  about  a  dozen  peo- 
ple. Looking  upon  him  one  evening,  I  said, 
"  This  is  slow  work.  Brother  Moody."  "  Yes," 
he  replied,  *'  but  if  you  want  to  kindle  a  fire, 
you  whittle  off  a  few  shavings  and  light  them  ; 
when  they  get  agoing  you  can  pile  on  the 
wood.  I  am  trying  to  get  a  few  souls  well 
kindled  first."  In  that  remark  he  showed  the 
sagacity  which  enabled  him  during  that  very 
year  to  start  the  flame  which  spread  over 
Great    Britain.      It   was    during   those   early 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  211 

meetings  in  Calvary  Chapel  that  one  of  our 
ladies  remarked  to  him,  ''  Mr.  Moody,  we  have 
plenty  of  good  preaching  ;  but  I  wish  that  you 
would  give  us  some  talks  explanatory  of  Bible 
passages."  This  suggested  to  him  the  prep- 
aration of  those  **  Bible-readings"  on  ''Faith," 
*'  Love,"  etc.,  which  have  since  become  so  fa- 
mous on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  They 
were  first  prepared  for  a  score  or  two  of  audi- 
tors in  that  chapel. 

The  fire  which  our  brother  so  laboriously 
kindled  soon  spread  through  the  chapel  con- 
gregation and  thence  into  the  parent  church. 
About  one  hundred  and  fifty  members  were 
received  as  the  fruits  of  this  revival.  On  one 
Sabbath  evening  Mr.  Moody  occupied  my 
pulpit  and  rather  astonished  some  of  my  good 
people  by  closing  the  service  with  pronounc- 
ing the  benediction.  As  he  had  not  then 
become  recognized  as  a  preacher,  but  was  re- 
garded as  a  layman,  this  exercise  of  a  minis- 
terial prerogative  excited  some  criticism.  They 
little  dreamed  that  within  a  year  he  would  ac- 
quire a  fame  second  only  to  Mr.  Spurgeon  as 


212  HISTORY   OF  THE 

a  herald  of  the  Word  of  life.  Let  me  add 
here,  that  during  all  the  many  seasons  of 
awakening  and  of  ingathering  of  souls,  it  has 
been  our  custom  to  rely  upon  the  blessings 
which  God  might  vouchsafe  to  the  labors  of 
the  pastor,  the  Sabbath-school  teachers,  and 
our  own  people ;  the  only  assistance  we  have 
ever  sought  from  without  was  the  visit  of 
Brother  Moody  in  1872,  and  the  co-operation 
of  my  beloved  neighbor.  Dr.  Pentecost  (pastor 
of  the  Tompkins  Avenue  Church),  during  the 
spring  of  1883,  and  again  for  a  few  evenings 
last  winter.  There  is  a  wide  field  in  this 
world  for  skilful  and  useful  Evangelists,  but 
we  have  always  held  that  it  should  be  both 
the  duty  and  the  delight  of  every  church  to 
sow  their  own  seed,  and  to  reap  their  own 
harvest. 

One  method  of  systematic  effort  for  the 
conversion  of  souls  we  have  found  very  useful. 
It  has  been  to  invite  the  officers  of  the  church 
and  the  Sabbath-school  superintendent  to  meet 
me  in  my  study.  We  have  then  gone  over 
the  list  of  unconverted  persons  in  the  congre- 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  213 

gation,  discussed  their  several  cases,  and  as- 
signed to  such  as  were  ready  to  undertake  it, 
the  pleasant  duty  of  calling  upon  or  writing 
an  affectionate  letter  to  such  person  as  they 
would  select.  These  personal  appeals  have 
been  blessed  in  many  cases  to  the  conversion 
of  the  impenitent,  or  to  the  recovery  of  back- 
sliders. In  this  connection  let  me  pay  a  de- 
served tribute  to  Mr.  Samuel  Jones  (formerly 
of  Wilton,  Conn.),  a  manly  and  eloquent 
young  lawyer,  who  was  peculiarly  efficient  in 
this  line  of  personal  effort.  The  perseverance 
and  fidelity  which  he  displayed  in  dealing  with 
an  avowed  sceptic  was  rewarded  with  the  con- 
version of  the  man  ;  although  he  often  said  to 
him,  "  Friend  Jones,  you  had  better  give  me 
up  as  a  hard  case,  and  spend  your  time  on  a 
more  hopeful  subject."  The  untimely  death 
of  this  earnest  Christian  lawyer — on  Christ- 
mas-day, 1873 — was  one  of  the  sorest  bereave- 
ments our  church  has  ever  suffered.  The  dy- 
ing message  of  our  Brother  Jones — "  Sing  at 
my  funeral  the  words  '  Blest  be  the  tie  that 
binds ' "  —  will   always   be   associated   in   the 


214  HISTORY   OF  THE 

memories  of  many  of  us  with  that  beautiful 
hymn.  There  are  others  in  our  congregation 
who  are  as  zealous  in  personal  exertions  for 
the  eternal  welfare  of  souls  as  he  was  ;  but  as 
his  modest,  manly  lips  are  silent  in  the  dust, 
the  record  of  his  brief  and  bright  career  among 
us  ought  not  to  be  forgotten. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  two  of  the  features 
or  methods  of  Lafayette  Avenue  Church, 
which  had  much  influence  in  deciding  me  to 
accept  its  invitation  to  the  pastorate.  The 
one  is  its  application  of  the  principle  of  rota- 
tion in  the  tenure  of  ofhce — thus  removing 
the  evils  and  dangers  of  a  life-tenure,  and  keep- 
ing the  office-bearers  under  a  closer  sense  of 
responsibility  to  the  people.  Presbyterianism 
will  be  only  returning  to  its  precedents  in  the 
days  of  stout  John  Knox,  when  it  re-estab- 
lishes the  rule  of  a  fixed  term  of  office,  and 
the  possibility  of  rotation  therein  as  the  uni- 
versal rule  in  its  form  of  government.  A 
second  excellent  feature  is  that  of  entrusting 
the  devotional  services  of  the  church — during 
the  week — to  the  direction  of  the  elders  and 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  21$ 

the  voluntary  participation  of  the  entire  flock. 
A  third  usage  let  me  also  name  as  sound  in 
principle  and  excellent  in  its  influence.  I  re- 
fer to  our  method  of  receiving  candidates  into 
our  church-fellowship. 

In  some  churches  all  that  is  required  of  the 
candidate  is  to  appear  before  the  Session,  an- 
swer satisfactorily  such  questions  as  may  be 
propounded  to  him,  and  then  have  his  name 
read  from  the  pulpit.  (If  he  has  never  been 
baptized,  he  of  course  must  receive  that  ordi- 
nance before  the  congregation.)  When  I  was 
received  into  the  church — at  Princeton,  N.  J. 
— I  had  a  brief  interview  with  the  pastor  and 
three  or  four  elders  ;  my  name  was  announced 
at  the  preparatory  lecture,  and  that  was  the 
sum-total  of  ceremony  connected  with  one  of 
the  most  momentous  steps  of  my  life.  We 
acknowledge  that  the  vote  of  the  Session  is 
the  decisive  act  which  admits  the  candidate 
into  the  privileges  of  church-membership. 
Nor  do  we  require  any  vote  of  approval  by 
the  whole  church,  as  is  the  rule  of  Congrega- 
tionalist   and    Independent    churches.       The 


2l6  HISTORY  OF  THE 

word  ''propound,"  which  appears  in  our  Con- 
stitution, is  intended  merely  as  an  equivalent 
(though  not  the  most  happy  one)  for  the  pub- 
lic announcement  of  a  candidate's  name  from 
the  pulpit.  Holding  that  the  approval  of  the 
Session  is  the  prime  essential  to  membership, 
we  yet  believe  that  the  confession  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  ought  to  be  made  in  the  face  of 
the  whole  assembled  church  and  congregation. 
It  ought  certainly  to  be  accompanied  by  as 
much  external  and  solemn  ceremony  as  the 
rite  of  marriage  or  the  rite  of  baptism.  It 
can  not  be  made  too  impressive. 

Our  custom  is  to  require  every  applicant  for 
membership  to  appear  before  the  Session  for 
examination.  If  the  applicant  is  approved, 
his  or  her  name  is  read  out  before  the  congre- 
gation on  the  Sabbath  before  the  communion 
or  at  the  preparatory  service.  On  the  com- 
munion Sabbath  the  candidates  are  called 
before  the  pulpit,  and  the  following  brief  sum- 
mary of  essential  and  evangelical  Articles  of 
Faith  is  read  to  them,  with  the  accompanying 
solemn  ''  Covenant ": 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  217 

CONFESSION  OF  FAITH. 

I.  You  believe,  that  there  is  only  one  living  and 
true  God — The  Creator,  the  Preserver,  and  Gov- 
ernor of  the  universe — existing  in  three  Persons,  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  infinite  in 
every  perfection,  and  the  only  proper  object  of  re- 
ligious worship. 

II.  You  believe,  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  were  given  by  inspiration  of  God, 
and  constitute  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and 
practice.  • 

III.  You  believe,  that  all  men,  since  the  fall  of 
Adam,  remaining  unchanged  by  grace,  are  utterly 
destitute  of  holiness,  and  voluntarily  corrupt ;  and 
that,  unless  renewed  by  the  regenerating  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  will  continue  in  a  state  of 
condemnation,  as  the  enemies  of  God. 

IV.  You  believe,  that  Jesus  Christ,  by  His  suffer- 
ings and  death,  has  made  an  atonement  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  world. 

V.  You  believe,  that  God,  in  the  plenitude  of  His 
mercy,  has  offered  salvation  in  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature,  upon  the  terms  of  repentance  for  sin,  and 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

VI.  You  believe,  that  there  is  no  way  of  justifica- 
tion for  the  sinner  except  through  Jesus  Christ;  and 

that  all  true  believers  are  justified  in,  and  so  united 
10 


2l8  HISTORY  OF  THE 

to  Him,  that  they,  being  secured  in  their  obedience 
by  the  Divine  promise,  will  never  perish,  but  will 
"  be  kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto 
salvation." 

VII.  You  believe,  that  the  members  of  Christ's 
Church  are  under  the  most  solemn  obligations,  not 
only  to  abstain  from  every  sin,  but  on  all  suitable 
occasions  to  discountenance  and  oppose  it  in  others; 
and  to  exhibit  an  undeviating  example  of  entire 
consecration  of  heart  and  life  to  the  will  and  service 
of  God. 

VIII.  You  believe,  that  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper  are  Sacraments  to  be  observed  in  the  Church 
unto  the  end  of  time;  that  the  proper  subjects  of  the 
former  are  believers  and  their  children,  of  the  latter 
only  the  hopeful  subjects  of  renewing  grace. 

IX.  You  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead; 
also,  that  God  has  appointed  a  day  in  which  He  will 
judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  Jesus  Christ; 
and  that  the  righteous  shall  inherit  eternal  life, 
while  the  wicked  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment. 

These  things  you  profess  to  believe. 

COVENANT. 

With  this  public  profession  of  your  faith,  you  now 
present  yourself  {or  yourselves)  to  enter  into  Covenant 
with  God  and  this  Church. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  219 

In  the  presence  of  God,  His  holy  angels,  and  this 
assembly,  you  avouch  the  Lord  Jehovah  to  h^your 
God — the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  be  your  Saviour — 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  to  he  your  Sanctifier,  Comforter, 
and  Guide.  Renouncing  the  world,  the  flesh  and 
the  devil,  you  do  unreservedly  consecrate  yourself 
(or yourselves)  and  all  that  you  possess,  to  the  service 
of  Jesus  Christ,  promising  a  cheerful  obedience  to 
all  His  commandments,  in  the  sanctuary,  the  family, 
the  closet,  and  all  the  relations  of  life. 

You  covenant  with  God  and  this  Church,  to  walk 
with  us  in  all  the  ordinances  and  institutions  of  the 
Gospel ;  to  discountenance  all  evil  reports;  to  pro- 
mote brotherly  love  and  unity;  to  recommend  the 
religion  of  Christ  by  a  well-ordered  life  and  godly 
conversation;  to  sanctify  the  Lord's  day;  to  attend 
upon  the  public  worship  of  the  Sanctuary,  and  also 
the  stated  and  occasional  meetings  of  the  Church 
as  you  may  have  opportunity;  to  submit  to  the  gov- 
ernment and  discipline  of  Christ  as  administered  in 
this  Church;  and  to  discharge  all  those  duties  by 
which  God  may  be  glorified,  and  the  religion  of  the 
Bible  promoted  among  men. 

You  thus  covenant. 

[^The  ordinance  of  Baptism  will  be  here  administered  to 
those  who  have  not  previously  received  it ^  the  candidates  kneel- 
ing successively  for  the  purpose,  after  which  they  will  be  ad- 
dressed as  follows ;] 


220  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Beloved — Wherever  you  go,  and  whatever  you  do, 
remember  that  these  vows  will  remain  upon  you. 
You  can  never  again  be  as  you  have  been;  hereafter 
the  eyes  of  the  world  will  be  fixed  upon  you.  Let 
your  conversation  be  as  becometh  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  and  you  will  be  a  credit  and  comfort  to  His 
Church;  if  you  act  otherwise  you  will  be  to  us  a 
grief  of  heart,  and  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of 
truth. 

May  you  seek  and  find  grace  to  enable  you  to 
keep  these  public  and  solemn  vows,  and  "may  the 
God  of  peace,  that  brought  again  from  the  dead  our 
Lord  Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  make 
you  perfect  in  every  good  work,  to  do  His  will,  work- 
ing in  you  that  which  is  well-pleasing  in  His  sight, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  be  glor}"-  for  ever  and 
ever.     Amen." 

COVENANT 

OF    THOSE    RECEIVED    ON    CERTIFICATE. 

Having  heretofore  professed  your  faith  in  Christ, 
and  received  the  ordinance  of  Baptism,  you  now 
present  y ourscli  {or  yourse/ves)  to  renew  your  solemn 
vows  to  God,  and  transfer  your  covenant  relations 
to  this  church.  You  do  here  signify  your  assent  to 
the  Articles  of  Faith,  and  your  acceptance  of  the 
Covenant    adopted    by  this   church,  and    solemnly 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  221 

promise  a  strict  adherence  and  obedience  to  all  its 
requirements. 

{Here  the  members  of  the  Church  will  rise,  and  stand  dur- 
ing the  reading  of  the  following  covenant  .*] 

In  consequence  of  these,  your  professions  and  en- 
gagements, we,  the  officers  and  members  of  this 
church,  do  now  publicly  and  affectionately  acknowl- 
edge you  as  members  with  us  in  the  family  of  Jesus. 
In  the  name  of  the  Master,  we  welcome  you,  and  de- 
clare you  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  this  Church. 
We  greet  you  as  brethren  and  friends,  to  a  fellow- 
ship with  us  in  the  labors  and  blessings,  in  the  trials 
and  rewards  of  the  Gospel,  promising  to  love  you  as 
fellow-heirs  of  the  grace  that  hath  redeemed  us;  to 
watch  over  you,  to  pray  for  you,  and  in  all  things  to 
seek  your  edification  and  growth  in  grace,  so  long 
as  you  shall  continue  your  connection  with  us.  This 
we  do,  imploring  of  the  great  Shepherd  of  Israel, 
our  Lord  and  Redeemer,  that  both  you  and  we  may 
have  wisdom  and  grace  to  be  faithful  in  His  cove- 
nant, and  to  glorify  Him,  with  the  holiness  which 
becomes  His  house,  forever.     Amen. 


Admission  into  the  privileges  of  church 
membership  is  too  often  regarded  as  the  chief 
end  to  be  aimed  at,  instead  of  being  regarded 


222  HISTORY    OF   THE 

as  only  an  initial  step  in  the  Christian  life. 
We  therefore  urge  upon  all  converts  the 
duty  of  immediately  engaging  in  the  devo- 
tional services  and  spiritual  activities  of  the 
church.  We  have  found  the  social  prayer- 
meeting — held  on  Monday  evening  in  private 
houses — to  be  an  excellent  training-school  for 
beginners.  Scores  of  our  most  active  mem- 
bers have  opened  their  lips  for  the  first  time 
in  prayer  or  public  addresses  in  that  familiar  and 
informal  gathering.  Unless  a  new  convert 
begins  at  once  to  take  part  in  devotional 
meetings  he  is  apt  to  remain  tongue-tied  for 
life.  To  pray,  and  to  "  speak  in  meeting  "  are 
not  the  sum  of  Christian  duty ;  but  it  is 
equally  true  that  to  "  neglect  the  gift "  of  ut- 
terance for  Christ,  or  not  to  develop  it,  is  both 
a  loss  to  the  individual  and  to  the  church. 

How  to  get  many  hundreds  of  members 
into  some  lines  of  active  work  and  how  to 
keep  them  at  it,  is  a  problem  that  I  do  not 
profess  to  have  completely  solved.  The  most 
that  I  have  been  enabled,  under  God,  to  ac- 
complish has  been  to  set  the  example  of  dili- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  223 

gence,  and  to  urge  every  follower  of  Christ  to 
taste  for  themselves  the  luxury  of  doing  good. 
Exhortations  to  Christian  work,  and  the 
methods  of  performing  it,  are  often  presented 
from  the  pulpit ;  to  this  I  am  accustomed  to 
add  personal  appeals  to  individuals  to  under- 
take this,  that,  or  the  other  line  of  benevolent 
labor.  Much  depends  on  the  maintaining  of 
a  warm  glowing  atmosphere  of  devotion  to 
the  Master ;  and  this,  in  turn,  depends  on  the 
gracious  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  pulpit 
and  in  pew,  in  prayer-meeting,  in  Sunday- 
school,  and  that  fountain-head  of  all  life,  the 
home. 

As  to  the  methods  of  raising  money  for  re- 
ligious and  benevolent  purposes,  we  have  usu- 
ally adopted  that  of  presenting  each  specific 
object  before  the  congregation  for  a  general 
contribution.  In  the  month  of  January,  for 
example,  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions  is 
presented  by  a  discourse  prepared  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  discourse  and  appeal  are  followed 
by  the  "  collection."  For  each  month  of  the 
year  some  leading  enterprise  of  Christian  be- 


224  HISTORY   OF  THE 

nevolence  is  designated  in  our  church  manual. 
I  do  not  always  deliver  a  special  discourse  for 
the  object  ;  but  often  content  myself  with  a 
brief  statement  of  its  claims  before  the  collec- 
tion is  taken.  The  "  envelope  system "  is 
used  by  our  "  Women's  Home  and  Foreign 
Missionary  Society,"  and  with  much  success. 
Many  churches  are  accustomed  to  make  a  gen- 
eral contribution  by  envelopes  on  every  Lord's 
day,  and  then  to  divide  the  proceeds  among 
different  objects.  We  have  hitherto  preferred 
to  place  each  religious  and  benevolent  enter- 
prise "■  on  its  own  merits,"  and  to  contribute 
to  that  alone  on  the  designated  day.  The 
amount  of  money  given  by  our  people  into 
the  treasury  of  the  Master  during  the  last 
twenty-five  years  can  not  be  accurately  ascer- 
tained. The  collections  made  at  our  church 
services  have  amounted  to  about  $350,000. 
Regular  collections  are  taken  up  for  the  Boards 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  (with  one  or  two 
exceptions),  for  Brooklyn  City  Missions,  for 
the  City  Bible  Society,  for  the  Seamen's 
Friend    Society,  for  Mission    School   Work, 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  225 

and  for  the  National  Temperance  Society. 
In  addition  to  these,  special  objects  of  various 
kinds  are  from  time  to  time  presented  for  con- 
tributions. 

Of  the  careful  and  sagacious  manner  in 
which  our  efficient  Board  of  Trustees  have 
managed  the  financial  affairs  of  Lafayette 
Avenue  Church  I  can  not  speak  in  too  hearty 
commendation.  Many  other  things  con- 
nected with  the  experiences  of  the  quarter  of 
a  century  now  closed  it  would  be  pleasant  to 
narrate  ;  but  the  limitations  prescribed  for  this 
volume,  and  the  lack  of  time  before  my  de- 
parture for  Europe,  both  forbid.  This  His- 
torical Sketch  has  been  written  as  an  appen- 
dix to  the  Discourse  delivered  on  the  late 
Anniversary  Sabbath.  I  lay  down  my  pen 
with  heartfelt  gratitude  to  God  for  His  mani- 
fold mercies,  and  to  my  dear  flock  for  their 
lovingkindness — commending  them  to  God 
and  to  the  word  of  His  grace,  which  is  able 
to  build  them  up  more  and  more,  and  to  give 
them  an  inheritance  among   all  those  which 

are  sanctified. 
10* 


226  HISTORY   OF  THE 


THE  SABBATH-SCHOOL. 
By  D.  W.  Fish. 


The  Sabbath-school  of  the  Park  Presby- 
terian Church  was  organized  in  1857,  with  a 
membership  of  about  seventy.  Mr.  L.  D. 
Simons  was  its  superintendent  until  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  i860,  v/hen  in  April  Rev. 
T.  L.  Cuyler,  D.D.,  accepted  a  call  to  become 
the  pastor  of  this  church,  the  Sabbath-school 
numbering  at  that  time  one  hundred  and 
ninety-two  teachers  and  pupils.  During  this 
period  of  twenty-five  years  something  over 
five  thousand  names  of  children  and  youth 
have  been  entered  upon  the  register  of  the 
school,  and  of  this  number  more  than  six  hun- 
dred have  united  with  our  own  church  on  pro- 
fession of  their  faith  in  Christ  as  their  Saviour. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  those  who 
have  served  in  the  principal  offices  of  the 
school  from  i860  to  1885  inclusive: 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH. 


227 


Superintendents. 
William  Churchill,  Jr., 
LiNNiEUS  C.  Hill, 
Francis  W.  Holbrook, 
Edward  A.  Lambert, 
Jacob  L.  Gossler, 
A.  G.  Van  Cleve, 
Dan'l  W.  McWilliams. 

Secretaries. 

Willoughby  Powell, 
Chas.  E.  Tuthill, 
William  Jarvie,  Jr., 
Chas.  W.  Tarbell, 
E.  P.  Freeman, 
Edgar  Forman, 
Nicholas  De  Groot, 
James  H.  Boynton, 
Edward  R.  Chapel. 


Treasurers. 

Gilbert  H.  White, 
Thos.  T.  Barr, 
Jacob  L.  Gossler, 
Ira  E.  Thurbur, 
William  Chartres, 
Caleb  V.  Smith. 

Librarians. 
J.  A.  Brainard, 
John  N.  Sayre,  Jr., 
Dan'l  N.  Lasher, 
Edgar  Forman, 
Rich'd  Huestis, 
Fred'k  C.  Bardwell, 
Fred'k  H.  Wing, 
A.  N.  Jung. 


March  23,  1862,  the  school  held  its  first 
session  in  the  new  church,  which  had  just 
been  completed  and  dedicated,  the  name  hav- 
ing been  changed  from  Park  Presbyterian  to 
Lafayette  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church. 

This  was  a  year  of  special  blessing.  The 
school  rapidly  increased  its  membership  to 
more  than  five  hundred,  and  the  presence  and 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were   apparent  in 


228  HISTORY   OF  THE 

the  conversion  of  many  precious  souls,  who  at 
once  engaged  in  active,  faithful  service  for  the 
Master. 

No  year  has  passed  without  some  conver- 
sions in  our  school,  and  while  there  have  been 
constant  accessions  to  the  church,  and  a  steady 
spiritual  gro'wth,  as  well  as  in  numbers,  there 
have  been  seasons  of  special  refreshing  and 
ingathering,  and  notably  that  of  1866.  This 
was  a  year  of  jubilee,  an  era  in  the  history, 
both  of  our  church  and  Sabbath-school. 

That  God  hears  and  answers  prayer,  that 
He  is  the  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently 
seek  Him,  was  wonderfully  verified  in  the 
outpouring  of  His  Spirit.  God's  people  were 
quickened,  and  many  souls,  both  of  adults  and 
youth,  were  converted.  Family  altars  were 
erected  in  many  households  where  the  voice 
of  prayer  had  never  before  been  heard,  and 
parents  and  children  rejoiced  together  in  a 
new-found  Saviour,  and  to-day  many  of  them 
are  most  earnest  and  efficient  workers  in  the 
church  and  in  the  Sabbath-school. 

This  revival  commenced  with  the  week  of 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  229 

prayer  and  continued  for  several  months. 
During  this  time  special  meetings  of  the 
church,  and  Sabbath  afternoon  prayer-meetings 
in  connection  with  the  Sabbath-school  were 
held  ;  also  special  meetings  were  conducted 
in  the  Cumberland  Street  Mission,  which  was 
under  the  care  of  our  church.  These,  with 
personal  visitations,  in  co-operation  with  the 
Holy  Spirit,  all  contributed  to  the  glorious 
result.  During  this  year  of  1866  there  were 
three  hundred  and  thirty-five  admissions  to 
the  church,  two  hundred  and  thirty -eight 
of  which  were  on  confession  of  their  faith 
in  Christ,  and  of  these,  ninety -eight  were 
from  the  Sabbath -school,  and  thirty -four 
from  the  Cumberland  Street  Mission.  Well 
could  it  have  been  said  :  ''  Behold  what  God 
hath  wrought." 

For  the  eleven  years  last  past  the  school  has 
been  under  the  judicious  and  efficient  manage- 
ment of  its  present  beloved  and  honored  super- 
intendent, Mr.  D.  W.  McWilliams,  with  the 
exception  of  little  more  than  one  year,  when 
he  was   obliged  to  retire   on    account  of  ill- 


230  HISTORY   OF  THE 

health.  During  these  years,  from  May,  1874, 
to  May,  1885,  inclusive,  three  hundred  and 
twenty-five  members  of  our  Sabbath-school 
made  public  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ, 
and  were  admitted  into  full  communion  with 
the  church. 

The  year  1881  was  another  memorable 
one  in  the  history  of  our  Sabbath-school. 
The  increasing  growth  of  the  school  in  num- 
bers had  for  some  time  rendered  our  rooms 
too  small  and  inconvenient,  and  larger  rooms 
and  better  accommodations  were  greatly 
needed  in  order  to  accomplish  the  best  results. 
But  these  could  not  be  had  without  purchas- 
ing some  adjacent  property,  which  would  en- 
tail a  heavy  expense,  and  the  thought  could 
not  be  entertained.  But  He  who  orders  all 
things,  put  it  into  the  heart  of  a  worthy  mem- 
ber and  official  of  our  church,  Mr.  Joseph 
Fahys,  to  offer  the  generous  sum  of  five  thou- 
sand dollars  toward  the  estimated  cost  of 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  provided  the  re- 
mainder should  be  raised.  This  generosity 
and  example  inspired  the  superintendent  and 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  23 1 

the  officers  of  the  church  to  action,  and  they 
determined,  like  Israel  in  Nehemiah's  time, 
''  to  arise  and  build."  An  earnest  appeal  was 
made  to  the  congregation,  and  the  requisite 
amount  was  soon  subscribed,  of  which  amount 
the  Sabbath-school  pledged  two  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  work  was  promptly  begun  and 
completed,  so  that  on  Christmas  day,  1881, 
the  school  took  possession  of  their  present 
beautiful  and  commodious  hall  that  will  ac- 
commodate twelve  hundred  scholars.  The 
dedication  services  took  place  the  same  day, 
and  the  Rev.  Geo.  F.  Pentecost,  Rev.  J.  S. 
Chadwick,  Rev.  Thos.  B.  McLeod,  and  the 
pastor.  Dr.  Cuyler,  took  part  in  the  services, 
and  made  interesting  and  appropriate  ad- 
dresses. 

Officer's  for  the  year  1885. 

D.  W.  McWiLLiAMS,  Superintendent. 

Jacob  L.  Gossler, 

Edgar  Forman, 

William  B.  See, 

Mrs.  Rubie  Ingersoll,  Superintendent  Infant  Dept. 

Edward  R.  Chapel,  Secretary. 

Caleb  V.  Smith,  Treasurer. 

A.  N.  Jung,  Librarian. 


Assistant  Superintendents. 


2  32  HISTORY   OF  THE 


Clinton  L.  Rossiter,  " 

Geo.  E.  Fahys, 

Geo.  M.  Boardman, 

Assistant  Librarian 

Wm.  H.  Tuthill, 

Walter  A.  Forman, 

LiNNiEUS  C.  Hill, 

Chorister. 

Geo.  H.  Beiser, 

Pianist. 

The  Infant  Class. 

There  is  no  department  of  the  Sabbath- 
school  of  greater  importance  and  interest  than 
the  infant  class  or  department,  and  it  should 
receive  the  most  careful  and  earnest  attention. 
Early  impressions  and  early  habits  are  the 
strongest  and  most  enduring,  and  in  a  large 
degree  give  direction  and  character  to  the  sub- 
sequent life  of  the  child. 

This  department  of  the  school,  which  con- 
venes in  the  lecture-room  of  the  church,  and 
at  present  numbers  eight  teachers  and  three 
hundred  pupils,  was  reorganized  in  1867, 
eighteen  years  ago,  with  twenty-five  pupils, 
and  placed  under  the  direct  supervision  of 
Mrs.  Rubie  Ingersoll,  who  from  that  time  to 
the  present  has  devoted  her  best  energies  and 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  233 

her  earnest  prayers  to  this  most  important 
charge  committed  to  her.  By  her  wise,  ten- 
der, and  motherly  devotion,  assisted  by  a  band 
of  faithful  Christian  helpers,  the  class  has 
grown  to  its  present  size,  and  is  kept  full ;  the 
places  of  those  who  from  time  to  time  are 
promoted  to  the  higher  grades,  being  filled 
with  new  scholars. 

The  impressions  and  teachings  that  the 
young  children  receive  in  this  department  are 
not  soon,  if  ever,  forgotten.  Many  at  an  early 
age,  some  even  before  leaving  this  department, 
give  the  most  satisfactory  evidence  of  a  gen- 
uine/ Christian  experience,  and  scores  who 
have  gone  from  this  to  the  upper  department, 
have,  under  the  instruction  of  faithful  teachers, 
become  earnest  and  active  Christians.  Two 
excellent  teachers  in  the  school  at  the  present 
time  came  from  this  infant  department. 

It  may  also  be  said  that  a  missionary  spirit 
pervades  this  department  to  an  unusual  degree. 
It  has  done  much  seed-sowing,  which  has  al- 
ready yielded  rich  harvests.  Their  contribu- 
tion annually  to  the  general  collection  of  the 


234  HISTORY  OF  THE 

whole  school,  and  which  is  mostly  devoted  to 
missionary  purposes,  averages  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars.  But  besides  this  they 
make  an  extra  contribution  of  twenty-five 
dollars  to  some  special  and  worthy  object. 
To  illustrate, — six  years  ago  a  missionary  from 
the  West,  in  addressing  a  few  words  to  this 
class  said,  that  twenty-five  dollars  would  build 
a  log  church  in  the  pine  woods  of  Michigan, 
since  the  men  would  draw,  hew,  and  pile  the 
logs  gratuitously,  and  the  twenty- five  dollars 
would  buy  the  glass,  nails,  etc.,  needful  to 
complete  the  building.  The  money  was  soon 
raised,  and  the  log  church  was  built,  and  to- 
day a  good,  substantial  frame  church  stands  on 
the  same  spot,  sustaining  a  flourishing  Sab- 
bath-school, and  regular  Sabbath  services,  as 
the  outgrowth  of  this  donation. 

At  different  times  this  extra  collection  of 
twenty-five  dollars  has  been  sent  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Paxton,  the  well-known  superintendent 
of  the  work  in  Texas  and  the  Southwest,  un- 
der the  direction  of  the  American  Sunday- 
School   Union.     Recently  in  acknowledging 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  235 

the  receipt  of  such  a  remittance,  he  stated 
that  with  one  of  these  donations  he  had  or- 
ganized a  Sabbath-school  in  a  new  and  prom- 
ising town.  Revivals  followed,  and  three 
churches  and  two  schools  had  grown  out  of 
that  one  school,  formed  by  the  aid  of  their 
contribution.  This  collection  has  sometimes 
been  applied  in  other  directions.  For  exam- 
ple, twenty- five  dollars  was  sent  to  Italy ; 
twenty-five  dollars  given  to  the  Brooklyn 
Nursery,  etc. 

While  planting  Sabbath-schools  costs  com- 
paratively little  money,  the  results  or  fruits 
of  this  form  of  Christian  benevolence  can 
never  be  fully  estimated  in  this  world.  Its 
influence  is  not  limited  by  time.  A  log 
church  built,  or  a  ten-dollar  library  furnished 
in  accordance  with  the  Divine  command, 
"  Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters,"  is  sure  to 
bring  the  result  or  fulfilment  of  the  promise, 
"  Thou  shalt  find  it  after  many  days." 

The  Missionary  Association. 

The  Sabbath-school  is  of  the  first  import- 
ance also,  as  a  missionary  agency  of  the  church, 


236  HISTORY  OF  THE 

not  only  as  a  means  of  reaching  those  outside 
the  pale  of  the  church  and  of  the  community, 
but  the  destitute  and  neglected  in  our  imme- 
diate neighborhood,  and  within  reach  of  our 
own  homes  and  churches.  And  since  this 
mission  work  is  distinct,  having  methods  and 
agencies  peculiarly  its  own,  every  Sabbath- 
school,  when  practicable,  should  resolve  itself 
into  a  missionary  society  or  association,  its 
object  being  to  plant  new  schools  in  destitute 
places,  and  to  assist  those  already  planted  ;  in 
cities,  to  establish  and  support  mission  schools 
in  destitute  outlying  districts,  where  there  are 
few*  if  any.  Sabbath  and  religious  privileges ; 
to  gather  into  the  home  school  those  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  who  have  not  yet 
become  members ;  and  to  contribute  to  some 
of  the  many  worthy  objects  of  Christian  be- 
nevolence, at  home  and  abroad. 

Our  Sabbath-school,  almost  from  its  organ- 
ization formed  itself  into  a  Missionary  Associ- 
ation, and  on  December  7,  1884,  held  its 
twenty-second  anniversary. 

The  officers  of  the  Association  are  a  presi- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  23/ 

dent,  vice-president,  secretary,  and  treasurer. 
The  superintendent  and  first  assistant-superin- 
tendent of  the  Sabbath-school  are,  ex  officio, 
the  president  and  vice-president  of  the  Associ- 
ation. 

Officers  for  the  Year  1885. 

D.  W.  McWiLLiAMS,  President. 
Jacob  L.  Gossler,  Vice-President. 

E.  P.  Bancroft,  Secretary. 
W.  T.  Whitmore,  Treasurer. 

At  the  quarterly  meetings  of  this  Associ- 
ation, besides  the  opening  and  closing  exer- 
cises, extracts  are  read  from  letters  received 
from  missionaries  toward  whose  support  it  has 
contributed,  brief  addresses  are  made,  and  cer- 
tificates to  life  members  distributed.  The 
annual  meeting  or  anniversary  of  the  Associ- 
ation is  held  in  the  church,  in  December,  and 
is  usually  an  occasion  of  much  interest,  and 
productive  of  good.  Not  only  does  the  entire 
school  attend,  but  the  parents  and  the  congre- 
gation generally  are  present.  The  general 
appearance  and  deportment  of  the  school,  the 
singing,   addresses,   and  other  exercises,   pre- 


238  HISTORY  OF  THE 

pared  especially  for  the  occasion,  together  with 
the  annual  report,  which  contains  much  more 
than  is  of  local  interest,  all  these  make  a  salu- 
tary impression  upon  all  present,  and  give  a 
new  impulse  to  the  work  of  the  Association. 

The  annual  contributions  of  this  Associ- 
ation vary  from  fifteen  hundred  dollars  up- 
ward, and  since  the  data  necessary  to  give  the 
total  amount  contributed  since  its  formation 
can  not  be  obtained,  we  give  the  full  report 
for  a  single  year  (1882),  which  will  illustrate 
the  ordinary  methods  of  raising  money,  and 
how  appropriated : 

Dr. 

Dec.  I,  1881.    To  Balance  on  hand $25  36 

Nov.,  1882.       Collections  from  Classes  dur- 
ing THE  YEAR I,8ll   43 

Gift  from  our  Librarians 1000 

Special  gift  from  Teachers  of  Infant 
Department  to  organize  new  Sab- 
bath-schools         25  00 

Gift  from  children  of  Brooklyn 
Orphan  Asylum  towards  Organ 
for  Rev.  A.  A.  Fulton,  China. .        8  02 

Other  collections  during  the  year..     134  31 

$2,014  12 


lafayette  avenue  church.  239 

Cr. 

By  Contributions  as  follows  : 
American  Sunday-School  Union  : 
Towards   the   support    of    Thomas 
Lain,  Missionary  in  Arkansas  and 

Texas $1 50  00 

Towards  the  support  of  Rev.  James 
Thomas  Sailes,  Missionary  of  this 

Church  in  Louisiana 100  00 — $250  00 

Brooklyn  City  Mission  and  Tract  Society      100  00 
Chapel  on  Ellery  Street,  Brooklyn,  under 
the    care  of    Rev.   Geo.  F.   Pentecost, 

(cost  to  erect  about  $12,000) 600  00 

Foreign     Missions,     through     Presbyterian 

Board 250  00 

Hampton  Institute,  Virginia,  towards  edu- 
cation of  B.  W.  Tucker,  a  native  African.      100  00 

Home  Missions,  through  Presbyterian  Board, 
of  which  $250  was  to  pay  one-half  the  cost 
of  windows  in  new  Mission  Building  at 
Fort  Sitka,  Alaska 500  00 

Mount  Olivet   Mission  Sabbath-School, 

Brooklyn 20  00 

N.  Y.  State  S.  S.  Association,  Missionary. . .        20  00 

Organ,  and  freight  thereon,  sent  to  Rev.  A.  A. 
Fulton,  China  (formerly  a  teacher  in  this 
School)  ;  of  this  amount  $8.02  was  contrib- 
uted by  Children  of  Brooklyn  Or- 
phan Asylum,  through  Mr.  C.  B.  Pearson        32  16 

Sabbath-School    Missionary   in    Dutchess 

County,  James  L.  Phillips 50  00 

Certificates,  frames  and  Banner 67  50 

Balance  to  new  year 24  46 

$2,014  12 


240  HISTORY   OF  THE 

In  1879  th^  Association  voted  three  hundred 
dollars  to  enable  Rev.  Henry  H.  Jessup,  of 
Beirut,  to  publish  in  the  Arabic  language,  to 
be  added  to  their  Sabbath-school  library,  and 
for  general  circulation,  the  "  King's  Highway," 
an  interesting  volume,  by  the  Rev.  Richard 
Newton,  D.D.,  on  the  Teh  Commandments. 
In  1880,  one  hundred  dollars  was  given  to- 
ward the  support  of  the  girls'  school  at  Tri- 
poli, Syria.  Thus,  it  will  be  seen  that  our 
gifts  are  made  to  a  great  variety  of  needy  and 
worthy  objects,  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  Association  received  the  following  re- 
ports of  work  done  the  same  year  by  two  of 
the  Sunday-school  missionaries,  toward  whose 
support  it  contributed,  showing  a  very  large 
return  for  a  small  investment. 

Report  of  Thomas  Lain,  Missionary  in  Arkansas  and 
Texas ^  of  American  Sunday- School  Union^  this  Sunday- 
school  contributifig. 

Schools  Organized  in  1882 43 

Containing  Teachers 187 

"  Scholars , 2, 1 59 

Old  Schools  aided 4 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  24I 

Containing  Teachers 20 

"             Scholars 126 

Addresses  delivered 106 

Bibles  distributed 1 29 

Testaments  distributed 195 

Families  visited 443 

Report  of  Rev.  James  Thomas  Sailes,  Missionary  of 
American  Sunday-School  Union  in  Louisiana^  sup- 
ported by  this  Churchy  the  Sabbath-school  contributing. 

Schools  Organized  during  year  ending  October,  1882.  32 
Containing  Teachers 125 

"  Scholars 1,387 

Old  Schools  visited  and  aided 17 

Containing  Teachers < 67 

"  Scholars 693 

Families  visited 340 

Bibles  distributed 1 50 

Testaments  distributed 200 

Addresses  delivered  52 

Sermons  preached 116 

Miles  travelled 4.389 

"  The  Schools  have  increased,  since  organization,  in 
teachers  and  scholars  from  35  to  no  per  cent." 

The  call  for  missionary  labor  was   never 

greater  or  more  urgent,  nor  the  opportunities 

for  such  service  more  ample  than  at  the  pres- 
II 


242  HISTORY   OF  THE 

ent  time.  And  the  Sabbath-school,  as  a  mis- 
sionary agency,  is  comparatively  inexpensive. 
How  many  schools  there  are  in  our  cities  and 
large  towns  that  might  each  support,  at  least, 
one  missionary.  And  how  many  new  schools 
might  such  a  missionary  plant  in  a  single  year, 
as  shown  by  the  preceding  reports  ;  and  how 
many  hundreds  of  the  ignorant,  the  destitute, 
and  the  perishing  might  be  brought  into  them, 
instructed  and  saved.  To  the  man,  woman,  or 
child  who  loves  the  Master  can  there  be  a 
more  blessed  privilege,  and  a  more  imperative 
duty,  than  to  contribute  by  personal  effort,  or 
by  other  means  as  the  Lord  shall  prosper,  or 
open  the  way,  to  the  furtherance  of  this  great 
and  glorious  cause. 

The  Cuyler  Mission  Band. 

A  few  years  since,  some  of  the  female 
teachers  and  young  ladies  of  the  Sabbath- 
school  formed  the  "  Cuyler  Mission  Band." 
Its  object  was  to  create  and  to  promote  a 
missionary  spirit,  and  to  aid  mission  work,  by 
the  dissemination  of  missionary  intelligence, 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  243 

by  contributions,  and  in  other  ways.  The 
desired  results  have,  in  a  measure,  been  real- 
ized. The  attendance  at  their  meetings  has 
increased,  and  the  cause  of  missions  has  been 
aided  in  various  ways.  For  a  time  the  Band 
supported  a  Bible-reader  in  Mexico,  whose 
work  was  greatly  blessed.  At  present  it  is 
supporting  a  missionary  among  the  Indians  in 
the  West.  It  is  also  prosecuting  some  home 
work  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn.  Its  meetings 
are  held  semi-monthly,  on  week-day  after- 
noons. At  each  meeting  a  Bible  subject  and 
a  mission  subject  are  the  themes  for  consider- 
ation. 

The  Library. 

Next  to  the  choice  of  a  superintendent, 
not  a  more  important  subject  presents  itself 
for  the  consideration  of  the  Sabbath-school 
than  the  selection  of  books  for  its  library. 
When,  as  at  the  present  day,  such  a  multiplic- 
ity of  books — and  of  good  books,  too — are 
being  published,  there  can  be  no  good  excuse 
for  a  hasty  and  careless  selection  of  much  that 


244  HISTORY   OF  THE 

is  mere  trash,  if  not  worse.  We  can  not  stop 
here  to  give  rules  for  the  selection  of  books, 
but  this  duty  should  be  entrusted  to  the  best 
judgment,  the  soundest  mind,  and  the  purest 
taste  that  the  congregation  and  Sabbath- 
school  contain. 

The  child  that  takes  the  book  home  not 
only  reads  it,  but  it  is  read  by  other  members 
of  the  family,  and  thus  an  immense  number 
of  volumes  is  devoured,  so  to  speak,  every 
week.  The  silent  but  certain  influence  ex- 
erted upon  the  mind,  heart,  and  life  of  the 
reader  is  beyond  computation.  An  appetite 
once  formed  for  reading,  like  that  for  food, 
or  for  drink,  will  take  no  denial,  but  will  de- 
vour indiscriminately  whatever  is  set  before 
it,  healthy  food  and  poison  alike,  only  so  it 
satisfies  hunger.  How  important,  then,  that 
only  good  books,  such  as  will  interest  and  in- 
struct, and  lead  to  the  formation  of  good 
habits  and  the  growth  of  right  principles,  be 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  child. 

Our  school  sustains  a  library  of  from  twelve 
to  fifteen  hundred  volumes  of  carefully  se- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  245 

lected,  well-read  books.  The  librarian  is  a 
business  man,  who  has  adopted  a  system  for 
the  care,  arrangement,  and  distribution  of  the 
books  well-nigh  perfect.  The  exchanges  are 
made  in  the  shortest  time,  and  with  the  least 
confusion  possible,  and  no  book  can  stray 
away  without  his  being  able  to  trace  it. 

The  venerable  Mr.  Thomas  Harward,  a 
member  of  our  church,  ninety-four  years  old, 
and  who  still  occupies  his  seat  in  church  nearly 
every  Sabbath,  recently  endowed  our  library, 
by  a  most  generous  gift  of  one  thousand  dol- 
lars, the  income  from  which  is  to  be  expended 
from  time  to  time  for  new  books  to  replenish 
the  library.  When  new  books  are  added,  the 
old  ones  displaced  are  donated  to  mission 
schools,  and  to  other  worthy  institutions. 

Teachers'  Meetings. 

The  teachers'  meeting,  when  properly  con- 
ducted, is  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  the  Sabbath- 
school.  No  school  can  be  well  sustained 
without  its  weekly  gatherings  for  conference 
and  prayer,  as  well  as  for  the  study  of  the 


246  HISTORY  OF  THE 

lesson.  Our  teachers'  meetings  are  held  on 
Saturday  evenings,  and  are  conducted  by  the 
superintendent  or  some  one  whom  he  may 
appoint.  After  the  devotional  exercises  at 
the  opening,  the  remaining  time  is  mostly 
spent  in  the  study  of  the  lesson  for  the  com- 
ing Sabbath.  There  is  the  same  freedom  on 
the  part  of  every  teacher,  as  with  the  leader 
to  impart  information,  or  to  suggest  a  thought, 
and  thus  by  a  free  expression  of  views  each 
one  may  and  ought  to  contribute  something 
of  interest  to  the  whole  class.  An  hour  spent 
at  the  teachers'  meeting,  if  wisely  conducted, 
will  help  a  teacher  more  in  the  preparation 
for  the  Sunday's  work  than  two  or  three 
hours  spent  in  solitary  study.  And  so  by  a 
free  interchange  and  comparison  of  views  at 
these  meetings,  we  may  often  gather  up  hints 
and  ideas  that  we  should  never  get  by  any 
amount  of  study  alone. 

These  weekly  meetings  for  the  study  of  the 
Word  are  also  a  great  social  and  religious 
privilege.  In  communing  with  each  other 
our  hearts  are  warmed,  our  consciences  quick- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  247 

ened,  our  courage  renewed,  and  our  love  for 
the  work  increased.  The  ties  of  Christian 
fellowship  are  made  stronger  as  we  become 
better  acquainted  with  each  other,  and  we  are 
enabled  to  work  together  more  harmoniously 
and  more  efficiently  in  the  great  trust  com- 
mitted to  us. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  so  many  of  the 
teachers  of  the  Sabbath-school  do  not  better 
appreciate  the  benefits  of  these  meetings,  and 
contribute  to  their  success,  at  least  by  their 
attendance. 

Bible  Classes,  etc. 

Connected  with  the  school  are  several  Bible 
classes  of  adults  and  of  young  people,  of  both 
sexes,  which  contribute  much  to  the  spiritual 
growth  and  religious  interests  of  the  church. 
The  aim  or  endeavor  is  to  retain  in  the  school 
as  long  as  possible  those  who  once  have  be- 
come members,  believing  that  the  influence 
of  their  presence  and  example  is  a  power  for 
good  upon  the  younger  members  of  the 
school,  and,  believing  also  that  Christians,  at 


248  HISTORY   OF  THE 

least,  should  be  engaged  in  some  Sabbath 
work  and  Bible  study  until  some  good  reason 
exists  for  omitting  it. 

The  sessions  of  our  school  are  held  in  the 
afternoon,  from  half-past  two  to  four  o'clock, 
and  during  the  winter  months  are  followed  by 
a  brief  prayer-meeting  of  from  twenty  to  thirty 
minutes.  These  prayer-meetings,  by  the  help 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  have  been  productive  of 
great  good  in  the  quickening  of  Christian 
teachers  and  pupils,  and  in  leading  many 
young  hearts  to  accept  Jesus  as  their  Saviour. 

The  *'  Uniform  Lesson  Series  "  were  adopt- 
ed for  use  in  our  school  on  their  first  appear- 
ance, and  have  been  continued  ever  since. 
They  have  created  a  great  deal  of  interest  in 
Bible  study. 

The  May  Anniversaries. 
These  anniversaries  are  occasions  of  great 
interest  and  enjoyment  to  our  school,  both  to 
teachers  and  scholars.  The  day  is  generally 
observed  by  all  Sabbath-schools  of  this  city, 
and  in  the  '*  Western  District "  alone  not  less 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  249 

than  fifty  thousand  teachers  and  scholars,  lit- 
erally ''  an  army  with  banners,"  formed  into 
divisions  of  eight  or  ten  schools  each,  turn 
out,  and  marching  to  the  sound  of  martial 
music,  gather  at  different  points  assigned 
them,  and  after  singing  the  anniversary  hymns 
and  listening  to  brief  and  appropriate  ad- 
dresses, each  school  partakes  of  refreshments 
it  has  provided,  and  engage  in  sports  and  rec- 
reations until  time  for  their  dismissal. 

Our  school  is  accustomed  to  spend  the  day 
in  Prospect  Park,  where  usually  are  gathered 
not  less  than  ten  thousand  members  of  schools, 
and  nearly  or  quite  as  many  more  parents 
and  friends  to  witness  the  gay  and  joyous  scene. 

Our  own  school  rears  a  large  tent  under 

which  to  serve  refreshments,   and  to  gather 

in   case   of   a  storm.     Teachers  and  scholars 

spend   the   day    pleasantly   together   on   the 

lawns  and  under  the  trees,  engaging  in  games, 

recreation,  and  social  intercourse,  and  in  good 

season  return  to  the  church  and  are  dismissed 

to  their  homes,  pleased  and  benefited  by  the 

day's  enjoyments. 
II* 


250  HISTORY  OF  THE 

These  occasions  not  only  afford  a  day  of 
pleasure  and  of  entertainment,  but  an  oppor- 
tunity for  teacher  and  scholar  to  become 
more  intimately  acquainted  with  each  other, 
and  with  the  members  of  the  whole  school. 


Our  Mission  Schools. 

In  the  spring  of  1861,  a  mission  school  of 
nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty  was  established 
near  the  junction  of  Fulton  and  DeKalb  Ave- 
nues, under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  T.  M.  Spel- 
man.  Subsequently  this  school  was  consoli- 
dated with  the  Cumberland  Street  Mission, 
and  the  entire  charge  and  support  given  to 
Lafayette  Avenue  Church.  Under  the  faith- 
ful and  efficient  management  of  Mr.  W.  W. 
Wickes,  an  elder  in  the  church,  and  who  was 
the  superintendent  for  ten  years,  the  growth 
of  the  school  was  so  rapid  that  in  1871  the 
large  and  beautiful  chapel,  located  in  Cum- 
berland Street,  near  Myrtle  Avenue,  was 
built  and  named  Calvary  Chapel,  in  which  the 
school  held  its  sessions,  and  stated  preaching, 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  25 1 

and  other  religious  services  were  regularly 
supported.  The  continued  increase  of  the 
congregation  and  of  the  Sabbath-school  seemed 
to  require  the  formation  of  a  church.  Con- 
sequently in  February,  1873,  the  Presbytery 
organized  the  present  '*  Fort  Greene  Presby- 
terian Church,"  and  early  in  1874  the  Lafay- 
ette Avenue  Church  dissolved  its  relations  to, 
and  withdrew  its  support  from,  this  new 
church  and  its  Sabbath-school. 

In  September,  1866,  a  mission  was  organ- 
ized by  our  church  in  Warren  Street,  near 
Prospect  Park,  as  a  thank-offering  to  God  for 
the  remarkable  outpouring  of  His  Spirit  upon 
our  church  and  Sabbath-school.  In  Novem- 
ber following,  the  school,  with  a  membership 
of  two  hundred,  took  possession  of  a  large 
and  suitable  building  which  had  been  provided 
for  their  use,  and  in  which  stated  preaching 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  evening  services  during 
the  week,  were  held.  The  following  year 
(1867)  this  mission  was  organized  into  a 
church,  and  named  the  **  Memorial  Presbyte- 
rian Church."     With  a  steady  growth  in  num- 


252  HISTORY   OF  THE 

bers  and  in  strength,  the  society  recently 
erected  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  Avenue  and 
St.  John's  Place  a  beautiful  and  commodious 
church  edifice  and  an  adjoining  chapel,  with  a 
membership  of  nearly  five  hundred  in  the 
church,  and  over  six  hundred  and  fifty  in  the 
Sabbath-school. 

In  the  year  1874  the  ''  Border  Mission," 
located  on  Bergen  Street,  near  Sixth  Avenue, 
transferred  their  property  to  the  Lafayette 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church.  The  name 
was  changed  from  ''  Border  Mission "  to 
"  Olivet  Chapel."  The  school  at  that  time 
numbered  but  sixty-five  teachers  and  pupils. 
Mr.  Horace  B.  Griffing,  an  elder  of  the 
church,  has  been,  and  still  is,  the  faithful  and 
devoted  superintendent  of  the  school,  and  by 
his  earnest  and  prayerful  cflforts  the  school  has 
had  a  steady  and  healthful  growth,  and  the 
field,  though  small,  has  been  abundant  in 
spiritual  fruit. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  membership 
was  doubled,  and  there  had  been  twelve  con- 
versions.    At  the   close  of  the  second  year 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  253 

there  had  been  one  hundred  and  eighty  en- 
rolled, and  thirty  conversions,  twenty-one  of 
whom  united  with  our  church  on  confession  of 
their  faith  in  Christ.  During  these  eleven  years 
there  have  been  one  hundred  conversions  in  this 
mission,  and  the  teachers  and  the  pupils  have 
contributed  two  thousand  dollars  for  mission 
work.  The  present  membership  is  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty,  which  is  a  large  number  for 
the  locality.  A  weekly  prayer-meeting  has 
been  sustained  during  the  whole  time,  and 
God  has  wonderfully  blessed  Olivet  Chapel 
Mission  in  the  study  of  the  Word,  and  in  the 
conversion  of  souls.  It  can  truly  be  said  that 
here  "seed-time  and  harvest"  have  quickly 
followed  each  other. 

Conclusion. 
The  Sabbath-school,  through  its  infant  de- 
partment, its  Bible  classes,  its  teachers'  meet- 
ings, its  visitation  of  families,  its  benevolent 
and  missionary  agencies,  and  its  systematic 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  opens  up  to  the 
Christian  Church    a  field  of  labor  in  which 


254  HISTORY   OF  THE 

every  man,  woman,  and  child  may  find  some- 
thing to  do.  It  is  an  all-pervading  agency 
through  which  the  Christian  pastor  can  mul- 
tiply tenfold  his  power  to  reach  the  masses, 
and  to  carry  on  his  great  work  of  saving  souls. 
No  other  agency  unites  in  itself  so  many  ele- 
ments of  good  and  of  usefulness  as  the  Sabbath- 
school,  and  no  nobler  work  can  occupy  our 
attention. 

The  number,  and  the  power  exerted  for 
good,  of  those  who  have  gone  forth  out  of  our 
Sabbath-school  and  church  the  past  twenty- 
five  years,  eternity  alone  can  reveal.  They 
are  scattered  up  and  down  the  earth ;  some 
have  become  pillars  in  society  ;  some,  leaders 
and  workers  in  churches  and  in  Sabbath- 
schools  ;  others  are  engaged  in  mission  fields 
or  in  benevolent  work  of  some  kind,  honoring 
and  serving  the  Master. 

Of  those  who  have  been  connected  with  our 
school,  five  have  entered  the  ministry,  viz.: 
Augustus  B.  Prichard,  Herbert  Lord,  John 
S.  Touzeau,  Charles  Freeman,  and  T.  Chal- 
mers Potter. 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  255 

As  we  review  these  years  that  have  past, 
truly  can  we  say,  "  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord 
helped  us,"  and  ''  Not  unto  us,  not  unto  us, 
but  unto  Thy  name,  O  Lord,  be  all  the 
glory." 


256  HISTORY   OF  THE 


YOUNG    PEOPLE'S     ASSOCIATION. 
By  a.  a.  Plant. 


This  active  and  progressive  Association  of 
young  people  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  Young 
People's  Prayer- Meeting,  which  was  organ- 
ized September  24,  i860.  Directly  after  Dr. 
Cuyler  commenced  his  pastorate  of  Park  Pres- 
byterian Church  (DeKalb  Avenue,  corner 
Carlton  Avenue),  the  young  people  of  the 
church  expressed  a  wish  to  organize  a  Young 
People's  Prayer-Meeting,  and  to  meet  in  pri- 
vate houses.  The  pastor  suggested  it  would 
be  better  to  defer  the  organization  of  such  a 
meeting  until  the  Fall  of  the  year,  when  our 
people  would  be  returning  from  their  summer 
vacations.  Monday  evening,  September  24, 
i860,  the  first  meeting  was  held  at  Dr.  Cuy- 
ler's  house,  144  South  Oxford  Street,  Dr. 
Cuyler  leading  the  meeting.  Forty  were  pres- 
ent.    It  was  decided  to  hold  these  meetings 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  257 

in  the  private  houses  of  the  members  of  our 
church  and  congregation,  which  met  with  the 
hearty  approval  of  the  officers  of  the  church. 
The  notice  for  the  Young  People's  Prayer- 
Meeting  became  a  regular  notice  from  the 
pulpit  morning  and  evening  of  each  Sabbath, 
and  continues  to  be  regularly  announced  to 
this  day.  Up  to  October  8,  1861,  there  never 
had  been  any  one  specially  appointed  to  take 
charge  of  these  meetings,  and  as  the  meeting 
was  growing  in  importance  and  influence  the 
young  people  felt  that  some  one  should  be 
regularly  appointed  from  their  number  at  the 
beginning  of  each  year,  to  take  charge.  So  one 
was  appointed  to  secure  houses,  appoint  lead- 
ers, prepare  pulpit  notices,  and  see  that  the 
camp-stools  were  provided.  The  Trustees,  rec- 
ognizing the  valuable  work  the  young  people 
were  inaugurating,  kindly  consented  to  defray 
all  expenses  of  delivering  the  camp-stools  at 
the  houses  and  returning  the  same  to  the 
church,  they  employing  the  sexton  for  such 
service. 

The  hearty  co-operation  of  the  officers  and 


258  HISTORY   OF  THE 

members  of  the  church  greatly  encouraged 
those  who  were  interested  at  the  commence- 
ment, and  has  been  a  source  of  great  satisfac- 
tion since.  The  young  people  have  had  the 
cordial  support  and  hearty  co-operation  of  the 
pastor,  who  has  always  manifested  a  keen  in- 
terest for  the  welfare  of  the  young  of  his  con- 
gregation. From  time  to  time  it  has  been 
suggested  that  we  hold  our  meetings  in  the 
lecture-room  of  the  church  ;  this  proposition 
has  always  met  with  a  small  minority.  The 
advantages  of  meeting  in  private  houses  are 
many.  The  pastor  endeavors  to  be  present — 
if  not  for  the  whole  evening,  a  part  of  it,  and 
generally  the  last  part,  which  gives  him  an  op- 
portunity of  visiting  thirty-five  to  forty  families 
during  the  year,  and  at  the  close  of  this  meet- 
ing there  is  given  a  half  hour  of  social  inter- 
course ;  this  gives  the  pastor  an  opportunity  to 
meet  with  the  young  members  of  his  church, 
and  an  opportunity  to  the  young  people  to 
meet  their  pastor  socially. 

Then  there  is  an  air  of  comfort  in  going  in- 
to a  private  house,  in  houses  beautifully  fur- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  259 

nished,  where  good  taste  and  refinement 
abound,  where  works  of  art  can  be  admired. 
The  heads  of  the  household  are  pleased  to  see 
their  house  crowded  with  young  and  happy  peo- 
ple, and  no  prayer  meets  with  a  more  hearty 
Amen  than  "  May  the  Lord  bless  those  who 
have  so  kindly  opened  their  doors  to  us."  Those 
who  open  their  houses  take  as  much  pleasure  in 
having  their  works  of  art  and  adornment  ad- 
mired, as  those  who  love  to  feast  their  eyes  on 
these  treasures ;  besides  there  is  greater  free- 
dom in  taking  part  in  the  exercises,  and  it  fur- 
nishes an  opportunity  for  new  members  to  get 
better  acquainted,  also  to  invite  neighbors  in. 
The  main  object  of  this  meeting  has  never 
been  lost  sight  of  ;  the  young  people  want  this 
meeting  to  themselves,  they  organize  it  for 
themselves,  and  so  long  as  it  continues  in  pri- 
vate houses  they  will  have  it  to  themselves, 
and  will  be  able  to  carry  out  the  original  ob- 
ject of  the  meeting — that  was  and  is,  to  look 
after  the  interests  of  the  young  as  they  come 
into  the  church,  to  invite  them  to  attend  these 
meetings  and  take  part  in  them,  to  present  the 


26o  HISTORY  OF  THE 

claims  of  Christ,  and  point  them  the  way  of 
salvation,  and  to  that  end,  labor  with  all  zeal. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  enumerate  the  number 
who  have  found  Christ  through  the  influence 
of  this  meeting.  God  has  blessed  it  from  the 
start,  and  there  has  never  been  a  year  when 
the  blessing  of  God  has  not  been  made  mani- 
fest, and  given  abundant  evidence  of  His 
Divine  approval.  Another  feature  of  this 
work  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  this  brief 
history  of  this  Association.  In  the  Presby- 
terian Church  it  is  the  custom  for  the  pastor 
and  Elders  to  lead  the  meeting;  but  these 
meetings  are  conducted  by  the  young  men,  and 
until  quite  recently  it  was  the  custom  for  the 
leader  to  select  his  own  portion  of  Scripture  ; 
this  leading  of  meetings  and  taking  part  in  the 
exercises,  either  in  prayer  or  remarks,  has 
proved  a  good  training-school  to  a  great 
many.  From  this  Young  People's  Prayer- 
Meeting  have  been  chosen  members  who  have 
been  elected  to  fill  the  offices  of  Elders,  Dea- 
cons, and  Trustees  of  our  church,  and  also  of 
churches  elsewhere.    At  the  outset  it  was  very 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE  CHURCH.  261 

apparent  that  this  meeting  would  meet  with 
much  favor  with  the  young  and  prove  a  valu- 
able auxiliary  to  the  church.  It  was  under- 
stood then,  and  it  is  understood  now,  that  the 
burden  of  carrying  on  this  meeting  rested  en- 
tirely with  the  young  people,  and  not  with  the 
officers  of  the  church  and  older  members  ;  the 
young  people  were  and  are  always  glad  to 
have  a  visit  from  them,  but  not  to  take  up 
the  time ;  but  give  it  to  the  young,  have  the 
exercises  confined  to  them,  and  let  them  feel 
the  responsibility.  No  one  was  expected  to 
take  part  to  "fill  up  the  time."  If  one  had 
nothing  to  say  it  was  better  to  say  nothing ; 
but  if  any  one  had  anything  to  say  he  was 
expected  to  speak,  and  given  every  oppor- 
tunity. It  was  resolved  to  hold  this  meeting, 
rain  or  shine,  hot  or  cold,  every  week  through 
the  year ;  it  was  commonly  called  the  *'  Mon- 
day night  meeting."  The  attendance  has  been 
down  to  four  in  number,  on  stormy  nights, 
but  the  meeting  was  held,  and  the  services 
continued  from  eight  to  nine.  The  young  peo- 
ple are  always  delighted  when  the  pastor's  face 


262  HISTORY   OF   THE 

appears  at  the  door,  who  always  has  a  timely- 
word.  A  few  years  after  the  organization  was 
formed,  the  cultivation  of  the  social  element 
was  deemed  quite  essential,  so  it  was  determined 
to  have  half  an  hour  for  social  intercourse  after 
each  meeting ;  this  has  proved  very  pleasant 
and  profitable.  It  has  been  the  purpose  and 
wish  that  no  one  should  come  into  the  meet- 
ing and  go  away  a  stranger.  All  the  young 
people  are  welcome,  and  the  members  feel 
obliged  if  any  one  will  make  it  known  if  there 
is  a  stranger  in  the  room.  The  following 
order  of  exercises  was  adopted  and  still  con- 
tinues in  use  : 

8.00.  Open  promptly. 

8.03.  Singing. 

8.06.  Prayer  by  Leader. 

8.09.  Singing. 

8.14.  Scripture  Reading. 

817.  Prayer. 

8.20.  Singing. 

Prayer  and  Remarks,  710  one  to  occupy  more  tha7i 
five  minutes'  time. 
8.40.     Requests. 

9.00.     Close  promptly  with  singing.  Notice  of  next  meet- 
ing. 
Benediction. 
Thirty  minutes  for  social  intercourse. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  263 

Promptness  is  absolutely  indispensable  to 
secure   the   success   of    these   meetings.      In 
every  case  the  meeting  should  be  opened  at 
precisely  eight  o'clock,  and  closed  promptly 
at   nine   o'clock,    and   if    there    are   striking 
clocks  in  the  house  they  should  be  regulated 
to  correspond  with   standard    time,   and   the 
leader's  watch  the  same.     Five  minutes'  delay 
in  opening  or  closing   is  detrimental  to  the 
best  interests  of  all,  for  those  who  come  late 
must   remember   the   majority   in    the   room 
were  there  before  eight  o'clock,  and  one  hour 
is  quite  long  enough  to  sit  on  a  camp-stool 
in  a  crowded  house.     We  are  glad  to  record 
that  the  opening  and  closing  of  these  meetings 
has  been  prompt  and  punctual.     We  are  cer- 
tain  that  one   of   the   causes   of   this   noble 
meeting's  existence  to-day,  and  the  power  it 
has  exerted  for  good,  and  the  powerful  influ- 
ence it  has  had  in  assisting  in  building  up  the 
church  and  stimulating  the  piety  of  the  young 
and  promoting  such  a  vast  amount  of  social 
element,  has  been  on  account  of  its  prompt 
action  and  strict  adherence  to  rules  laid  down 


264  HISTORY   OF  THE 

for  its  guidance.  We  have  never  had  to  use  a 
bell  to  remind  any  young  man  that  he  was 
exceeding  the  time  allowed  ;  but  the  common 
sense  of  all  our  members  has  served  to  remind 
them  that  the  rule  applied  to  them.  Our 
pastor  has  set  an  example,  as  his  remarks  are 
always  brief  and  right  to  the  point.  At  cer- 
tain seasons  of  the  year,  January  to  April, 
and  September  to  December,  houses  are 
secured  in  a  circle  near  the  church,  and  often- 
times the  largest  houses  to  be  had.  In  March 
and  April,  1866,  it  was  found  necessary  to 
occupy  two  houses  near  each  other  for  a 
single  meeting,  and  for  several  weeks  the  at- 
tendance reached  350  to  375.  At  these  meet- 
ings a  very  large  number  were  converted  to 
Christ,  and  joined  in  with  the  260  who 
united  with  the  church  at  that  time.  Other 
months  the  meetings  are  held  farther  away 
from  the  church,  reaching  families  who  are 
pleased  to  give  the  young  people  a  welcome 
to  their  homes  and  hearts.  It  has  been  the 
custom  of  the  young  people  to  hold  their 
anniversary  prayer-meeting   at    the   home  of 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  265 

our  pastor,  on  the  Monday  evening  nearest 
September  24th.  On  this  occasion,  the  one 
having  charge  of  the  meetings  makes  the  fol- 
lowing report : 

1.  Number  of  meetings  held  during  the  year. 

2.  Smallest  meeting. 

3.  Largest  meeting. 

4.  Average  for  the  year. 

5.  Pastor  met  with  us  —  times. 

6.  Left  town  or  moved  to  other  parts  of  the  city. 

7.  Active  members  on  the  roll.  * 

8.  New  voices. 

9.  Converted  during  the  year. 

10.  Added  to  the  church  on  confession. 

In  1863  the  pastor  requested  that  the 
young  people  should  hold  their  meeting  at  his 
house  on  the  first  Monday  evening  of  the  new 
year,  but  for  the  past  few  years  this  meeting 
has  been  held  in  the  lecture-room, — it  being 
the  first  meeting  of  the  week  of  prayer.  In 
connection  with  the  Monday  night  meeting 
( 1 863-1 864),  the  young  people  held  a  prayer- 
meeting  at  quarter  before  seven,  in  the  pastor's 
study,    and   sometimes   the    interest   was   so 

great  the  lecture-room  had  to  be  used,  and  at 
12 


266  HISTORY  OF  THE 

times  it  was  full,  and  much  good  resulted 
from  it.  Meetings  at  this  time  were  held  also 
at  the  Cumberland  Street  Mission.  Septem- 
ber 25,  1865,  the  young  people  celebrated 
their  fourth  anniversary  at  the  new  house  of 
our  pastor,  136  South  Oxford  Street  (now 
1 76).  Being  the  first  time  it  had  been  opened 
to  the  people,  the  usual  report  was  read,  after 
which  Dr.  Cuyler  stated  how  he  was  called 
from  New  York  to  Brooklyn,  and  what  had 
transpired  since,  referring  to  the  change  from 
Park  Presbyterian  Church  to  the  new  La- 
fayette Avenue  Presbyterian  Church.  After 
the  benediction  Dr.  Cuyler  invited  all  present 
to  remain  and  feel  perfectly  at  home  in  his 
new  house.  After  a  general  introduction  and 
cordial  greeting  of  friends,  a  shake  of  the 
pastor's  hand,  looking  about  his  house  up  and 
down  stairs,  the  large  assemblage  dispersed, 
satisfied  that  our  pastor  had  no  better  house 
or  more  comfortable  surroundings  than  he 
was  entitled  to,  and  all  wished  him  much  hap- 
piness in  his  new  home  under  the  ''  Catalpa." 
During  the  six  years  of  the  Young  People's 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE  CHURCH. 


267 


Prayer-Meeting  the  meetings  were  largely 
attended,  sometimes  reaching  in  number  from 
300  to  375,  and  following  are  the  names  of 
those  who  took  an  active  part  and  acted  as 
leaders  of  the  Young  People's  Prayer-Meet- 
ing during  the  period  from  September  24, 
i860,  to  November  6,  1867,  out  of  which 
grew  the  Young  People's  Association. 

1860-1861. 


CUYLER,  Rev.  Theo.  L.,  D.D. 
Carman,  William  C. 
Downs,  James  H. 
goldthwaite,  charles  e. 
Green,  James. 
Hanson,  Frederick  G. 
Hill,  Linnaeus  C. 
horton,  s.  a. 
Jones,  Henry  A. 
Knapp,  Francis  H. 
Minizek,  James  H. 


Miller,  John  E. 
MuMFORD,  Charles. 
MuMFORD,  Henry. 
MuMFORD,  William. 
Plant,  Alonzo  A. 
Plant,  Deforest  E. 
Prankard,  William  C. 
Reynolds,  James  E. 
Stiles,  Henry  R.,  M.D. 
Thompson,  Henry  H. 
Williams,  Charles  J. 


Added  in  1861-1862. 


Alzamora,  Juan. 
Hadden,  William. 

HOUGHTALING,  DaVID  H. 

Jayne,  George  A. 
Sammis,  John  S. 
Smith,  John  E. 


Jones,  William  Bidkar. 
Metcalf,  Benjamin  F. 
Page,  W.  Harlan. 
Powell,  Willoughby. 
Stockwell,  Henry  B. 
Warner,  George  W. 


268  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Added  in  1862-1863. 

Bloom,  Richard  H.  Sammis,  Theodore  A. 

CoE,  Henry  L.  Sullivan,  Eugene  W. 

LosEY,  William  A.  Shotwell,  William  B. 

Plant,  Luzerne  W.  Towne,  Charles  E. 

RoBBiNS,  Alfred  A.  White,  Gilbert  H. 

Wheeler,  Billings,  Jr. 

A  dded  in  1 8  6  3- 1 8  64. 

Benedict,  Coleman.  Paterson,  Robert  W. 

Mills,  Henry.  Tarbell,  Charles  W. 

Whitney,  Thomas  E. 

Added  in  1864-1865. 

Bacon,  Zadock  M.  Hart,  James  H. 

Carman,  Alonzo  F.  Leonard,  Thomas  W. 

Farrand,  Albert  S.  Stephens,  Clarence. 

HiCKOK,  DeLoss.  Tredick,  Charles. 

Webb,  James  R. 

Added  in  1 865- 1 866. 

Bodine,  a.  Stanton.  Jarvie,  William,  Jr. 

Baker,  D.  Kellogg.  Lasher,  Daniel  N. 

Bancroft,  George.  Lord,  Daniel  M. 

Dunning,  Charles  J.  Mast,  John  B. 

Finger,  Gilbert  H.  Morton,  John  S. 

FosDiCK,  Edward  H.  Nickerson,  Richard  E. 

Griffing,  Horace  B.  Robbins,  Louis  L. 

Hayden,  Charles  B.  Slate,  Oliver  W. 

Holbrook,  Francis  W.  Walbridge,  Oun  G. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH. 


269 


Added  m  1866-1867. 


Brainard,  John  A. 
Bell,  Warren  P. 
DoLBEARE,  Frederick  W. 
Hyde,  J.  Sterling. 
HoLCOMB,  Chester. 
Hendrickson,  Edward  A. 


Hunt,  Charles  P. 
Knowlton,  Stephen,  Jr. 
Moore,  Hazen  W. 
McQuESTON,  William  G. 
Simons,  Lorenzo  D. 
Tucker,  Joseph  A.,  Jr. 


Out  of  this  company  of  89  the  following 
have  died  : 


Downs,  James  H. 
Dunning,  Charles  J. 
Farrand,  Albert  S. 
Hanson,  Frederick  G. 
HiCKOK,  DeLoss. 
Horton,  S.  a. 


Jayne,  George  A. 
Knowlton,  Stephen,  Jr. 
Lasher,  Daniel  N. 
Moore,  Hazen  W. 
Plant,  Deforest  E. 
Prankard,  William  C. 


Forty-eight  have  been  dismissed  to  other 
churches,  and  29  are  still  members  of  our 
church. 

In  1866  there  was  a  manifest  desire  on  the 
part  of  several  active  members  to  form  an 
association,  believing  that  a  more  extensive 
work  could  be  done  under  systematic  or- 
ganization. While  it  was  acknowledged  by 
all  that  the  Young  People's  Prayer- Meeting 
had  done  a  most  excellent  work,  and  were  doing 


2/0  HISTORY   OF  THE 

it,  it  was  thought  by  this  organization  a  gen- 
eral Christian  work  could  be  done  more  effect- 
ively and  give  to  a  larger  number  a  greater  re- 
sponsibility. This  seemed  to  meet  with 
general  favor,  as  all  were  disposed  to  adopt 
any  measure  which  promised  to  further  pro- 
mote the  interest  in  the  cause  of  our  Master. 
Consequently,  pursuant  to  a  call,  a  meeting  of 
the  young  people  was  held  in  the  lecture- 
room  on  Friday  evening,  November  i,  1867, 
after  the  prayer-meeting,  to  take  into  consid- 
eration the  matter  of  organizing  a  Young  Peo- 
ple's Association  in  our  church  for  the  purpose 
of  extending  the  work  already  inaugurated  by 
the  Young  People's  Prayer-Meeting,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  stimulating  the  piety  of  the 
young  people  and  to  promote  a  more  social  ele- 
ment among  all  the  young  people  of  our 
church  and  congregation.  A  committee  was 
appointed  to  draft  a  Constitution  for  the  pro- 
motion of  such  an  organization.  On  Wednes- 
day evening,  November  6,  1867,  an  adjourned 
meeting  was  held  in  the  lecture-room,  and  af- 
ter the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  a  presi- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  2^1 

dent,  vice-president,  secretary,   and  treasurer 
were  elected. 

An  adjourned  meeting  was  held  after  the 
Friday  night  prayer-meeting,  Nov.  8,  1867,  to 
take  into  consideration  the  incorporation  of 
the  Young  People's  Prayer-Meeting.  From 
this  time  the  Young  People's  Prayer-Meeting 
has  been  under  the  direction  of  the  Devotional 
Committee  of  the  Young  People's  Associa- 
tion. At  this  meeting  the  president  an- 
nounced the  first  standing  committees  as  fol- 
lows : 

Devotional  and  Visiting. 

Sunday-school. 

Temperance. 

Finance. 

Membership. 

Public  Meetings. 

Fifty-four  signatures  to  the  Constitution 
were  obtained  during  the  evening,  the  pream- 
ble of  which  is  : 

"  We,  the  subscribers,  desirous  of  stimulating  the  piety 
of  the  young  people  of  our  church  to  more  earnest  and 
consecrated  effort  in  the  service  of  our  Redeemer,  and  to 
promote  a  more  social  element  among  a// the  young  people 


2^2  HISTORY   OF  THE 

of  our  congregation,  do  hereby  agree  to  labor  together  for 
this  end." 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  first  year 
of  this  Association  was  experimental.  It  was 
recommended  that  the  annual  dues  should  be 
$i.oo  for  gentlemen  and  fifty  cents  for  ladies. 
This,  however,  was  abandoned,  and  the  annual 
dues  or  fees  were  abolished  altogether.  To 
carry  on  this  work,  and  to  support  these 
standing  committees,  it  was  necessary  to  have 
funds  in  the  treasury.  How  to  get  them 
there  became  the  question  of  the  hour. 

During  these  early  days  of  the  Association 
the  monthly  meeting  for  business  was  held  on 
Tuesday  evenings.  After  the  transaction  of 
business  an  essay  or  paper  was  read  and  after- 
ward discussed  by  members.  Afterward  a 
half-hour  social  intercourse  was  held,  closing 
with  the  long-metre  Doxology. 

Thus,  in  this  early  history  we  find  much 
importance  attached  to  the  social  element, 
and  from  that  time  to  the  present  it  has  lived 
side  by  side  with  the  devotional,  and  by  this 
harmony   of    action    we   have   been   able   to 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  2/3 

carry  out  the  object  of  this  beloved  Associa- 
tion. 

March  5,  1868,  four  months  after  organiz- 
ing in  accordance  with  a  revision  of  the  Con- 
stitution, which  provides  for  a  Board  of  Man- 
agers, five  members  were  elected,  to  constitute 
this  Board,  afterward  to  be  regularly  elected 
at  the  annual  meeting  together  with  the  presi- 
dent, vice-president,  secretary,  and  treasurer. 
After  the  president  has  appointed  the  stand- 
ing committees,  and  they  have  been  approved 
of  by  the  five  elected  Managers,  the  standing 
committees  and  elected  officers  constitute  a 
Board  of  Managers,  and  have  power  to  make 
their  own  by-laws. 

The  Board  of  Managers  have  the  control 
and  management  of  the  affairs  and  property 
of  the  Association.  The  reason  of  delegating 
this  power  to  a  Board  of  Managers  was  to 
avoid  the  necessity  of  transacting  business  at 
their  public  meetings  other  than  the  election 
of  officers  and  members. 

With  this  revision  of  the  Constitution  the 
young  people  felt  that  they  were  well  organ- 


12 


.,* 


274  HISTORY   OF  THE 

ized  and  ready  for  work.  The  church  was  sys- 
tematically canvassed,  being  divided  up  into 
thirty-two  sections,  it  being  the  purpose  that 
no  young  person  should  be  left  uninvited  to 
attend  the  meetings. 

The  work  was  done  thoroughly,  and  a  good 
result  was  obtained.  A  large  number  became 
interested.  Circulars  were  issued  to  inform 
the  public  of  the  nature  of  the  work.  The 
same  earnest  spirit  continued  that  stimu- 
lated those  from  the  beginning.  It  was  a  de- 
termination to  press  the  claims  of  Christ, 
to  labor  to  promote  the  cause  of  our  Re- 
deemer among  men,  and  with  it  we  had  the 
earnest,  prayerful,  and  cordial  support  of  our 
pastor ;  and  the  young  people  recognized  in 
him,  early  in  his  pastorate,  a  safe  leader  and  a 
friend  to  the  young  people.  The  secret  of  the 
success  of  this  Association  is  due  in  a  great 
part  to  the  pastor's  hearty  support,  and  never 
losing  sight  of  the  chief  object,  honoring 
Christ  and  laboring  to  save  souls. 

Many  ways  were  suggested  to  raise  money. 
While  we  are  taught  that  the  love  of  it  is  the 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  2/5 

root  of  all  evil,  we  felt  the  supply  of  it  was 
all-needful.  We  had  lectures  and  Bunyan's 
Tableau,  which  yielded  $170.50.  During 
this  time  the  Young  People's  Prayer-Meeting, 
under  the  management  of  the  Devotional 
Committee,  was  doing  its  usual  work.  This 
meeting  has  always  been  recognized  as  the 
motive-power.  Take  it  away  and  all  power 
would  be  gone. 

Sept.  18,  1872,  Dr.  Cuyler  gave  a  lecture  ; 
The  net  proceeds  were  $274.65.  We  had  four 
picnics  during  the  period  from  1867  to  1872  ; 
taking  a  boat  up  the  Hudson.  The  net  result 
was  a  loss  of  $240,  and  the  saddest  feature  was 
the  drowning  of  Master  Remsen  Rhodes  in 
1872,  and  since  then  a  proposition  for  a  picnic 
has  not  met  with  general  favor. 

In  the  early  part  of  1872  there  was  a  disposi- 
tion to  extend  the  work.  A  proposition  was 
made  to  establish  a  mission  Sunday-school  in 
connection  with  the  Association.  The  Border 
Mission  at  that  time  needed  assistance,  and 
for  several  weeks  the  matter  was  agitated, 
finally  resulting  in  an  appropriation  of  $150 


276  HISTORY   OF  THE 

from  the  Young  People's  Association.  At 
about  this  time  there  were  two  smaller  Associa- 
tions springing  up  in  the  church.  It  became 
apparent  that  the  Young  People's  Association 
were  taking  upon  themselves  unnecessary  re- 
sponsibility and  care  of  outside  matters,  and 
entering  into  labors  that  did  not  necessarily 
belong  to  them.  Thus  having  departed  from 
the  specific  object  as  defined  in  the  preamble 
to  the  Constitution,  and  losing  sight  of  the 
special  work  it  was  organized  for,  it  was  not 
at  all  surprising  that  the  young  people  found 
themselves  embarrassed  in  1874,  they  having 
too  many  irons  in  the  fire. 

The  question  of  the  hour  was  either  to  dis- 
band or  to  reorganize.  March  4,  1874,  new 
officers  were  elected  and  the  Constitution  was 
revised ;  four  articles,  seven  sections,  and  six 
committees  were  stricken  out,  which  made  the 
management  less  cumbersome.  The  original 
preamble  was  adopted  unanimously,  and  the 
specific  object  as  defined  was  strictly  adhered 
to,  knowing  no  other  work  than  stimulating 
the  piety  of  the  young  people  of  our  church, 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  2^/ 

and  the  promoting  of  a  social  element  among 
all  the  young  people  of  our  congregation,  and 
from  that  day  to  the  present  there  has  been  a 
oneness  of  purpose,  and  all  efforts  have  been 
concentrated  in  the  Association. 

A  Fair  was  held  December  i,  2,  3,  and  4, 
1874,  which  realized  to  the  Association  the 
sum  of  $1,110.63.  From  this  new  start  all  the 
old  members  renewed  their  vigor,  and  new 
members  came  in  full  of  hope,  and  the  year 
1874  marks  a  starting-point  for  more  aggres- 
sive and  concentrated  work  than  ever  before. 
The  social  element  sprung  into  new  life,  and 
all  seemed  anxious  to  promote  this  feature  of 
our  Association. 

The  Seventh  Anniversary  of  the  Associ- 
ation was  celebrated  on  the  evening  of  March 
23,  1875,  in  the  lecture  and  Sabbath-school 
rooms.  The  lecture-room  was  transformed 
into  an  art  gallery  ;  rare  paintings  and  engrav- 
ings were  loaned  by  our  friends,  the  aggregate 
value  of  which  was  not  far  from  $50,000. 
Combined  with  art  were  music  and  flowers, 
and  an  acceptable  repast  was  enjoyed  by  all. 


2/8  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Short  addresses  were  delivered  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Cuyler,  General  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  Rev. 
Charles  Hall  Everest,  and  others.  The 
prayer-meeting  was  fully  attended  and  much 
interest  was  manifested.  The  half  hour  of 
social  intercourse  was  largely  attended,  the 
conversation  more  general,  and  the  grip  of  the 
hand  more  cordial.  It  was  no  longer  a  theory, 
but  a  fact :  the  young  people  had  made  up 
their  minds  like  him  of  old,  '*  This  one  thing 
I  do."  The  monthly  entertainments  became 
full  of  interest  and  pleasure,  at  this  time — all 
artists  volunteering  their  services.  The  tract 
distribution  increased  largely,  and,  as  in  the 
early  history,  the  officers  of  the  church  did  all 
in  their  power  to  aid  us. 

The  Eighth  Anniversary  was  celebrated  on 
the  evening  of  March  28,  1876;  the  lecture- 
room  was  again  transformed  into  a  drawing- 
room,  and  the  Sunday-school  into  a  supper- 
room.  This  manner  of  celebrating  our  Anni- 
versary was  a  decided  change.  It  had  been 
customary  to  hold  the  exercises  in  the  church, 
where  addresses  were  the  order  of  the  evening 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  279 

and  the  reading  of  the  president's  annual  re- 
port ;  but  in  order  to  promote  the  social  ele- 
ment, it  was  thought  best  to  have  our  exer- 
cises to  partake  of  the  character  of  a  reception. 
Invitations  were  sent  to  members  of  our  As- 
sociation, officers  of  the  church  and  their 
wives,  all  persons  who  loaned  pictures  to  dec- 
orate the  room,  all  who  aided  and  contributed, 
to  our  fair  officers  of  kindred  associations,  and 
those  who  voluntarily  aided  us  professionally 
at  our  entertainments.  Large  numbers  were 
added  to  our  membership,  and  the  Associ- 
ation grew  in  popular  favor.  The  total  at- 
tendance at  the  Young  People's  Prayer-Meet- 
ing for  1874  and  1875  was  4,715.  The  larg- 
est number  at  any  one  meeting  was  300,  and 
the  smallest,  15. 

After  the  Anniversary  had  been  celebrated, 
and  the  young  people  made  to  reahze  how 
many  friends  they  had,  they  were  stimulated 
to  greater  efforts.  The  Prayer-Meeting  con- 
tinued to  be  the  place  where  hundreds  of  young 
people  assembled  to  meet  their  Saviour,  pas- 
tor,   and   friends.     Following    the   reception 


28o  HISTORY   OF  THE 

came  the  Fifteenth  Anniversary  of  our  pastor. 
The  young  people,  as  usual,  contributed  their 
part,  and  making  it  a  pleasant  occasion  for 
one  they  love  so  much.  They  provided  the 
flowers,  and  made  the  decorations  and  floral 
inscription — 1860-1875.  The  attendance  of 
the  Prayer-Meetings  was,  total  4,080.  Larg- 
est meeting  260,  smallest  15.  Met  in  private 
houses  44  times ;  pastor  met  with  us  30  times. 
The  Tract  distribution  was  a  work  many  en- 
tered into  most  heartily.  Total  amount  of 
tracts  and  papers  distributed  33,676,  Bibles  6, 
and  Testaments  8. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  had  returned 
from  Europe,  where  they  had  been  doing  such 
a  marvellous  work,  and  opened  the  campaign 
in  the  United  States  October,  1875,  ^^  the 
Rink  in  Brooklyn,  and  the  Young  People's 
Association  furnished  a  large  number  of  ush- 
ers. 

An  amendment  to  the  Constitution  was 
adopted  providing  for  annual  dues, — $1.00  for 
gentlemen  and  fifty  cents  for  ladies. 

It  was  found  that  the   Relief  Committee 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  28 1 

could  do  nothing  practically  but  to  relieve  im- 
mediate want.  If  a  family  was  found  to  be 
in  distress — out  of  coal  or  bread — an  appro- 
priation of  $2.50  was  made  to  provide  the  ne- 
cessities, and  the  case  reported.  If  a  member 
of  our  church,  it  was  to  be  reported  to  the 
proper  officers  of  the  church  ;  if  not,  then  to 
the  city  authorities. 

The  Ninth  Anniversary  was  celebrated  on 
the  evening  of  the  27th  of  March,  1877.  The 
decorations  of  the  lecture-room  in  which  the 
reception  was  held  were  novel  and  elaborate, 
and  the  attendance  of  the  members  and  in- 
vited guests  was  highly  gratifying,  and  unex- 
pectedly large  on  account  of  the  severe  storm 
which  raged  all  day.  One  of  the  pleasant 
features  of  the  occasion  was  the  exhibition  of 
the  new  and  elegant  Steinway  concert  grand 
piano  purchased  jointly  by  the  Association 
and  Sunday-school.  The  collation  was  elegant 
and  refreshing. 

The  year  was  remarkable  for  its  great  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  prosperity.  The  object 
of  the   Association,  as   described   in  the  pre- 


282  HISTORY   OF  THE 

amble  of  its  Constitution,  was  successfully 
carried  out.  Like  the  two  preceding  years, 
the  one  purpose  was  uppermost  in  the 
hearts  of  all  to  carry  out  practically  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  our  organization.  Never 
in  the  history  of  our  Association  have  the 
meetings  been  so  largely  attended,  never  has 
so  large  a  number  risen  for  prayer,  or  ex- 
pressed a  willingness  to  converse  on  the  sub- 
ject of  their  soul's  best  interests. 

The  young  people  again  decorated  the  church 
and  pulpit  on  the  occasion  of  the  pastor's 
Sixteenth  Anniversary.  Dr.  Cuyler  had  just 
returned  from  the  South.  On  the  pulpit  was 
placed  the  following  note  from  the  Young 
People's  Association  : 

"  Beloved  Pastor :  This  Floral  Tribute  is  from  your  flock ; 
from  hearts  which  love  you  and  your  work.  We  extend  to 
you  a  cordial  welcome,  and  to-day  thank  God  for  return- 
ing you  in  safety,  and  with  improved  health,  prepared  to 
stand  before  us  again  on  this  the  i6th  Anniversary  of  your 
connection  with  this  church,  and  the  30th  of  your  useful 
ministry." 

On  Easter  Sabbath  the  young  people  again 
decorated  the  pulpit  with  flowers,  carnations, 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  283 

pinks,  smilax,  and  a  floral  design  *'  Christ  the 
Lord  is  risen  to-day." 

Our  membership  had  reached  more  than 
500,  1 24  members  having  been  added  to  the 
roll  during  the  year;  88  active  ;  33  associate  ; 
3  honorary.  The  Young  People's  Prayer- 
Meeting  has  been  largely  attended  and  full  of 
interest.  Total  attendance,  5,027;  largest 
meeting,  300  ;  smallest,  7  ;  pastor  met  with 
us  32  times.  The  meeting  in  charge  of  the 
Young  People  at  7  o'clock  in  the  pastor's 
study  every  Sabbath  evening  was  continued 
with  much  blessing. 

The  Tract  Committee  distributed  tracts, 
papers,  etc.,  53,715  ;  Bibles,  7  ;  Testaments,  6. 

The  Tenth  Anniversary  was  celebrated  on 
Wednesday  evening,  April  3,  1878.  It  was 
observed  in  a  different  manner.  A  grand 
concert  was  given  in  the  church.  The  recep- 
tions previously  given  in  the  lecture  and  Sab- 
bath-school rooms  had  proved  very  pleasant 
and  successful ;  but  as  we  had  been  obliged  to 
restrict  the  attendance  to  members  of  the 
Association  and  a  few  invited  guests,  it  was 


284  HISTORY   OF  THE 

thought  best  to  change  our  manner  of  cele- 
brating  this   happy  annual   event   this  year. 
The  whole  church  edifice  was  thrown  open, — 
the  lecture-room    for   a   reception-room,  and 
the  Sabbath-school  room  for  a  supper-room. 
Two  thousand  cards  of  invitation  were  issued 
and  a  very  fine  musical  programme  was  pro- 
vided, which  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been  equalled 
in  Brooklyn.     The  artists  were   Mrs.   Marie 
Louise  Swift,  soprano ;  Mrs.  Florence  Rice- 
Knox,  contralto  (her  second  appearance    in 
Brooklyn  since  her  return  from  Europe),  and 
Miss  Rilla  E.  Bronson,  contralto ;  Mr.  H.  R. 
Romeyn,  tenor ;  Mr.  F.  Remmertz,  baritone; 
Miss  Ida  L.  Woolley,  elocutionist ;  Mr.  S.  N. 
Penfield,  pianist.     As  usual,  the  President's 
Annual  Report  was  read.     This  pleasant  en- 
tertainment and  the  sea  of  appreciative  faces 
and  good-cheer  stimulated  the  young  people 
on  to  greater  efforts.     Another  Fair  was  held 
December  5th,  6th,  and  7th,  being  so  arranged 
as  not  to  interfere  with  the  regular  Friday 
night    prayer-meeting.     The   net   result   was 
$1,300.     Following  this  Fair  came  the  Grand 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  285 

Loan  Exhibition.  The  Fair  Committee,  in 
providing  side  attractions  and  acting  upon  the 
suggestion  of  the  good  wife  of  our  pastor, 
arranged  to  hold  in  connection  with,  and  at 
the  same  time  of,  our  Fair  an  exhibition  of 
decorative  art,  principally  of  women's  work. 
The  interest  in  this  department  so  grew,  and 
the  exhibition  promised  to  be  so  fine  and  ex- 
tensive, that  it  was  deemed  best  to  make  it  a 
separate  affair.  The  result  proved  the  wisdom 
of  this  course,  for  when  the  "Loan  Collec- 
tion "  was  opened  for  exhibition  on  the  even- 
ing of  Tuesday,  December  i8,  1877,  the 
lecture-room  was  filled  with  fine  paintings, 
bronzes,  and  statuary ;  the  Sunday-school 
with  articles  curious  and  antique ;  while  the 
Study  was  crowded  to  repletion  with  articles 
rare  and  beautiful,  fashioned  by  women's 
hands.  In  the  church,  which  was  decorated 
with  rare  exotics,  was  stationed  Bernstein's 
orchestra,  which  discoursed  sweet  music  to 
many  listeners.  Altogether  it  was  one  of  the 
finest  displays  of  art  and  antiquities  ever  seen 
in  this  city. 


286  HISTORY   OF  THE 

The  exhibition  was  kept  open  afternoon 
and  evening  until  Christmas  night,  and  was 
visited  by  about  4,000  persons.  The  expenses 
($936.10)  were  necessarily  heavy,  but  were 
equalled  by  the  receipts.  It  was  hoped,  how- 
ever, that  the  display  would  do  something  to 
cultivate  and  elevate  the  taste  for  the  beauti- 
ful, something  to  encourage  and  stimulate 
some  to  devote  a  portion,  at  least,  of  their 
leisure  time  to  art  work,  whether  it  be  with 
the  needle,  with  the  pencil,  or  with  the  chisel. 
The  Young  People's  Association  was  greatly 
indebted  for  the  artistic  success  of  the  ex- 
hibition to  the  willing  hands  and  generous 
hearts  of  many  of  our  church  people  who 
were  not  immediately  identified  with  our  As- 
sociation. 

Sixty-five  to  seventy  were  added  to  the  roll 
of  membership.  The  annual  dues  were  de- 
creased one-half,  making  for  gentlemen  50 
cents,  and  ladies  25  cents. 

The  Young  People's  Prayer-Meeting  and 
the  Tract  Committee  continued  the  good 
work  as  usual,  and  at  the  end  of  ten  years 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  28/ 

since  the  Young  People's  Association  was 
organized  we  find  ourselves  united,  and  a  cash 
balance  in  the  treasury  of  $1,797.03.  Sixty 
tract  distributors  have  been  earnestly  at  work 
distributing  33,913  foreign  and  English  tracts 
and  papers.  Bibles  and  Testaments,  besides 
8,000  temperance  tracts,  were  distributed  on 
the  day  before  New-Year,  some  of  which 
were  written  by  our  pastor. 

The  Eleventh  Anniversary  was  celebrated 
April  2,  1879,  by  a  reception  similar  to  those 
previously  held  in  the  lecture  and  Sabbath- 
school  room ;  the  room  tastefully  decorated 
with  a  fountain  in  the  centre  of  the  room 
which  lent  an  additional  charm,  together  with 
cages  suspended  about  the  room  with  sweet- 
singing  birds  who  kept  up  an  incessant  war- 
bling. Conterno's  Parlor  Orchestra  furnished 
delightful  music,  and  Dr.  Cuyler  again,  in  a 
short  address,  assured  all  present  of  his  cordial 
sympathy  with  the  work  of  the  Association, 
and  thanked  the  young  people  for  the  hearty 
support  they  had  given  him  in  his  labors. 
Since  the  last  revision  of  our  membership  roll 


288  HISTORY   OF  THE 

the  following  are  the  names  of  members  who 
have  died : 

Mrs.  Jane  Floyd,  Mr.  H.  Stanton  Griffing, 

"    Mary  E.  Kneeland,  "  J.  B.  Hutchinson, 

Miss  Emma  J.  Bacon,  "  Thomas  B.  Goble, 

"    Carrie  R.  Brainard,  "  G.  H.  Goin, 

"    Ella  F.  Holbrook,  "  Samuel  T.  Jones, 

"    E.  M.  Stevens,  "  Harry  Jamison, 

"   Mary  E.  Tooker,  "  De  Forest  E.  Plant, 

Mr.  Gurdon  Burchard,  Jr.,  "  Charles  S.  Waller. 

Fifty-two  Young  People's  Prayer-Meetings 
have  been  held  :  45  in  private  houses,  lecture- 
room  3  times,  and  pastor's  study  4.  Total, 
3,324.  Largest  meeting  332,  smallest  18. 
Eighty-one  have  taken  part  in  the  devotional 
exercises,  either  by  prayer  or  remarks.  Our 
pastor  has  been  with  us  32  times.  Entertain- 
ments have  been  given  the  first  Wednesday 
evening  in  each  month,  with  the  exception  of 
July,  August,  September,  and  January. 

The  interest  continues,  and  the  Association 
seems  more  alive  than  ever.  Ninety  have 
been  added  to  the  roll  of  membership. 

Each  year  we  have  had  printed  and  circu- 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  289 

lated  350  to  750  copies  of  a  manual  of  20 
to  25  pages,  containing  the  President's  An- 
nual Report,  Constitution  and  By-Laws  of 
the  Board  of  Managers,  Officers  and  Standing 
Committees,  and  other  matters  of  interest  con- 
cerning the  Association.  The  numbers  of 
those  of  neighboring  churches  who  have  ap- 
plied for  copies  of  this  book  have  been  con- 
stantly on  the  increase.  This  is  not  confined 
to  our  city  or  State,  but  from  distant  parts  of 
the  country.  We  hear  from  those  who  have 
used  our  manual  to  aid  them,  and  several  recog- 
nizing its  value  as  an  assistant  in  such  com- 
munities, have  sent  to  us  copies  of  their  own, 
while  they  have  taken  ours  as  a  guide. 

We  have  to  add  to  the  list  of  those  who 
have  been  removed  from  us  by  death  : 

Mrs.  Marie  A.  See,  Mr.  Nicholas  De  Groot, 

"    E.  H.  BoARDMAN,  "  A.  M.  Davenport, 

Miss  Louise  L.  Cuyler,  "  I.  R.  Ditmars, 

"    Mary  C.  Scott,  "  G.  Irving  Henshaw, 

"    Angie  Rowley,  "  Woodhull  Ketchum, 

Gen.  Silas  Casey,  "  Jeremiah  Vanderbilt 

Mr.  Fred.  E.  Cleveland,  "  Henry  M.  Stone, 

*•  Fred.  Calkins.  "  G.  Frank  Seymour. 
13 


290  HISTORY  OF  THE 

The  following  persons,  who  have  been  act- 
ive in  the  Association,  have  entered  the  min- 
istry of  the  Gospel : 

Richard  E.  Field,  A.  A.  Fulton, 

Charles  J.  Young,  Herbert  Lord, 

Augustus  B.  Prichard,  John  Touzeau, 

T.  Chalmers  Potter,  H.  H.  Henry, 

Charles  Freeman. 

Amidst  death,  which  has  carried  off  so 
many  of  our  members,  and  many  prominent 
ministers  of  the  Gospel,  our  faithful  pastor 
has  been  spared,  thanks  be  to  God,  to  preach 
the  Word  as  he  finds  it  revealed  in  the  Book 
of  books,  and  an  example  of  most  extraor- 
dinary health  and  indefatigable  perseverance 
and  industry.  Our  success  from  the  start,  now 
twenty-five  years,  is  very  largely  due  to  his 
hearty  co-operation  and  sympathy  in  our  work, 
and  the  recognition  by  the  members  of  our 
Association  of  our  pastor  as  our  leader  and 
spiritual  teacher. 

Without  entering  into  any  further  detail, 
the  foregoing  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  man- 
ner of  working,  and  give  some  idea  of  the 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  29 1 

blessed  results  of  this  admirable  Association, 
which  was  never  more  prosperous  than  at  the 
present  time.  The  same  results  have  followed 
each  year,  and  the  manner  of  conducting  the 
work  has  been  unchanged.  Our  member- 
ship now  is  811,  and  the  Association  was 
never  more  active,  and  at  no  time  in  its 
history  were  there  so  many  young  men  taking 
an  active  part.  Out  of  the  nine  officers,  in- 
cluding the  president  elected  at  our  last  an- 
nual meeting,  six  have  been  born  since  the 
organization,  and  are  children  of  the  church. 

The  Twelfth,  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  and 
Sixteenth  Anniversaries  were  celebrated  in  a 
similar  manner, — that  of  a  reception  in  the 
lecture-room  and  Sabbath-school  room. 

The  Thirteenth  Anniversary  was  omitted  on 
account  of  the  desire  of  the  people  to  meet 
our  pastor  prior  to  his  departure  for  an  ex- 
tended tour  to  the  Holy  Land.  Our  Associa- 
tion therefore  took  the  initiative  to  arrange  a 
farewell  reception  which  should  take  the  place 
of  our  anniversary  celebration.  We  received 
the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  officers  of  the 


292  HISTORY   OF  THE 

church  and  Sabbath-school,  and  a  delightful 
reunion  was  had  on  the  evening  of  March  23, 
1881. 

The  observance  of  the  Seventeenth  An- 
niversary, which  was  to  have  taken  place 
Wednesday  evening,  April  i,  1885,  was  dis- 
pensed with  on  account  of  the  celebration  of 
the  Twenty-fifth  Anniversary  of  Dr.  Cuyler's 
pastorate,  which  occurred  Sunday  and  Mon- 
day, April  5th  and  6th.  A  committee  was 
appointed  from  the  Young  People's  Associa- 
tion to  co-operate  with  committees  from  the 
Boards  of  Elders,  Deacons,  and  Trustees  and 
congregation,  constituting  a  committee  of  ar- 
rangements. The  details  of  this  celebration 
will  be  found  in  another  part  of  this  book. 

Following  will  be  found  the  Preamble  and 
Constitution  of  the  Association  and  By-Laws 
of  the  Board  of  Managers,  and  the  list  of  offi- 
cers from  the  beginning  to  the  present  time. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  293 

CONSTITUTION. 


PREAMBLE. 

We,  the  subscribers,  desirous  of  stimulating  the 
piety  of  the  young  people  of  our  church  to  more 
earnest  and  consecrated  effort  in  the  service  of  our 
Redeemer,  and  to  promote  a  more  social  element 
among  all  of  the  young  people  of  our  congregation, 
do  hereby  agree  to  labor  together  for  this  end  and 
to  adopt  for  our  guide  the  following 

CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE    I. 

Section  i.  The  name  of  this  Society  shall  be  the 
Young  People's  Association  of  the  Lafayette  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Sec.  2.  The  object  of  this  Society  shall  be  the 
development  of  Christian  character  and  activity  in 
its  members,  and  the  improvement  of  the  spiritual, 
intellectual,  and  social  condition  of  our  young  peo- 
ple, by  the  ways  and  means  to  be  hereinafter  desig- 
nated. 

ARTICLE   II. 

Sec.  I.  The  membership  of  this  Association  shall 
consist  of  four  classes,  viz.  :  active,  associate,  life, 
and  honorary  members. 


294  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Sec.  2.  Any  person  between  the  ages  of  fifteen 
(15)  and  forty-five  (45)  years,  in  good  standing  as  a 
member  of  our  church,  may  become  an  active  mem- 
ber, and  as  such  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  the 
Association. 

Sec.  3.  Any  person  of  good  moral  character  may 
become  an  associate  member,  and  as  such  entitled 
to  all  the  privileges  of  the  Association,  except  that 
of  holdinsf  office. 

Sec.  4.  Honorary  Members  may  be  constituted 
such  by  vote  of  the  Association,  at  any  regular 
meeting,  upon  recommendation  by  the  Board  of 
Managers. 

ARTICLE   III. 

Sec.  I.  All  propositions  for  membership  shall  be 
made  to  the  Board  of  Managers,  and  such  persons 
may  be  elected  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Associa- 
tion. 

Sec.  2.  Persons  having  been  elected  by  the  Asso- 
ciation may  become  members  thereof  by  paying  the 
membership  fee. 

Sec.  3.  Persons  who  shall  be  elected  during  the 
last  three  months  of  the  year  and  shall  pay  the 
membership  fee,  may  have  their  annual  dues  for  the 
following  year  remitted. 

Sec.  4.  The  annual  dues  of  members  shall  be  fifty 
cents  for  gentlemen  and  twenty-five  cents  for  ladies. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  295 

A  Life  Membership  may  be  secured  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  ten  dollars,  for  which  a  certificate  shall  be 
issued,  signed  by  the  President  and  Secretary,  and 
such  certificate  shall  not  be  transferable  under  any 
circumstances. 

Sec.  5.  The  money  derived  from  the  above 
sources  shall  constitute  a  fund,  to  be  known  as  the 
**  Life  Membershio  Fund,"  to  be  invested  as  directed 
by  the  Board  of  Managers,  the  income  from  which 
may  be  devoted  to  the  uses  of  the  Association  ;  but 
the  principal  sum  or  any  part  thereof  shall  not  be 
expended,  except  by  a  resolution  introduced  at  a 
regular  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  of  which 
notice  shall  have  been  given  in  writing  at  least  one 
month  prior  thereto  ;  and  the  votes  of  three-fourths 
( i )  of  the  members  present  shall  be  necessary  to 
the  passage  of  such  resolution. 

Sec.  6.  Members  who  shall  not  have  paid  their 
annual  dues  will  be  debarred  the  privilege  of  voting 
for  officers  at  the  annual  meeting.  And  those  who 
shall  not  have  paid  their  dues  for  a  period  of  two 
years,  will  no  longer  be  considered  members. 

Sec.  7.  The  Treasurer  shall  notify  all  members 
in  arrears  of  that  fact,  previous  to  the  annual 
meeting. 

article  IV. 

Sec.  I.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  active  members 
of  the  Association  to  promote  fraternal  feeling  and 


296  HISTORY   OF  THE 

social  intercourse  among  its  members  ;  to  visit  them 
in  sickness,  to  surround  them  with  religious  influ- 
ences, to  interest  them  in  the  meetings  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, and  to  induce  them  to  take  part  in  its  efforts 
for  doing  good.  Special  attention  shall  also  be 
given  to  searching  out  young  people  who  come 
among  us  as  strangers,  and  to  assist  them  in  form- 
ing suitable  acquaintances. 

ARTICLE   V. 

Sec.  I.  The  officers  of  this  Association  shall  be  a 
President,  Vice-President,  Secretary,  Treasurer,  and 
five  (5)  Managers,  who  shall  be  elected  by  ballot  at 
the  annual  meeting,  and  who,  together  with  the 
members  of  the  Standing  Committees,  shall  consti- 
tute a  Board  of  Managers. 

Sec.  2.  The  President  shall  preside  at  all  meet- 
ings of  the  Association,  call  such  special  meetings 
as  he  may  deem  expedient,  and  prepare  the  annual 
report  of  the  Society's  operations. 

Sec.  3.  The  Vice-President,  in  the  absence  of  the 
President,  shall  perform  all  the  duties  of  the  office.. 

Sec.  4.  The  Secretary  of  the  Association  shall 
keep  a  record  of  its  proceedings,  and  have  charge  of 
all  documents  belonging  to  the  Association. 

Sec.  5.  The  Treasurer  shall  take  charge  of  all 
the  moneys  of  the  Association,  keep  a  true  and  cor- 
rect account  of  the  same,  be  prepared  to  report  the 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  297 

condition  of  the  treasury  at  any  regular  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Managers,  and  to  disburse  moneys 
only  as  directed  by  the  Board,  and  make  a  full 
report  at  the  annual  meeting.  He  shall  deposit  all 
funds  over  $50  in  some  responsible  Bank. 

Sec.  6.  The  Board  of  Managers  shall  have  the 
control  and  management  of  all  the  affairs  and  prop- 
erty of  the  Association,  and  make  their  own  By- 
Laws. 

Sec.  7.  All  contracts  entered  into  by  the  Board 
of  Managers  shall  be  made  so  as  to  expire  on  or 
before  the  end  of  the  Association  year. 

ARTICLE    VI. 

Sec.  I.  There  shall  be  the  following  Standing 
Committees  of  the  Association,  which  shall  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  immediately  after  the 
annual  meeting,  and  approved  by  the  elected  Board 
of  Managers. 

Sec.  2.  A  Devotional  and  Visiting  Committee  of 
at  least  three  gentlemen  and  three  ladies,  who  shall 
have  charge  of  all  devotional  meetings,  and  visit  the 
sick,  or  such  as  request  counsel  or  advice. 

Sec.  3.     A  Temperance  Committee,  consisting  of 

at  least  two  gentlemen  and  two  ladies,  who  shall 

endeavor  to  promote  the  cause  of  Temperance  in 

our  midst. 

Sec.  4.     An  Entertainment  Committee,  of  at  least 
13* 


298  HISTORY  OF  THE 

three  members,  who  shall  provide  all  social,  literary, 
or  musical  entertainments. 

Sec.  5.  A  Tract  Distributing  Committee,  who 
shall  have  charge  of,  and  perform  all  duties  con- 
nected with  tract  distribution. 

Sec.  6.  A  Relief  Committee,  consisting  of  at  least 
three  gentlemen  and  three  ladies,  who  shall  inves- 
tigate all  cases  requiring  relief  which  shall  be 
brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Association,  as  occur- 
ring within  our  tract  district  or  in  our  Church  or 
Sabbath-school  fields  of  labor,  but  not  to  the  poor 
generally  of  our  city.  And  any  pecuniary  assistance 
this  committee  may  deem  it  wise  to  render  under 
the  direction  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  must  be 
solely  to  relieve  immediate  want. 

Sec.  7.  A  Property  Committee,  who  shall  make 
and  keep  an  inventory  of  and  care  for  the  property 
of  the  Association,  and  be  prepared  to  report  its 
location  and  condition,  at  any  regular  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Managers. 

Sec.  8.  A  Floral  Committee,  consisting  of  at 
least  three  members,  who  shall  supply  the  pulpit  of 
our  church  with  flowers  each  Sabbath,  from  funds 
to  be  collected  by  them  for  that  purpose  only. 

The  amount  collected  shall  be  reported  to  the 
Treasurer  and  included  in  his  annual  report. 

Sec.  9.  The  President  shall  be  ex  officio  member 
of  all  Standing  Committees. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  299 

ARTICLE   VII. 

Sec.  I.  There  shall  be  a  regular  meeting  of  this 
Association  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  each  month, 
and  special  meetings  may  be  called  by  the  Presi- 
dent, at  the  written  request  of  five  (5)  members. 

Sec.  2.  The  annual  meeting  of  the  Association 
shall  be  held  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  March,  at 
which  the  annual  report  shall  be  read,  and  officers 
elected  for  the  ensuing  year ;  a  majority  of  the 
votes  cast  being  necessary  to  a  choice. 

Sec.  3.  The  anniversary  of  this  Association  shall 
be  held  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  April. 

Sec.  4.  Nine  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum 
at  any  meeting  of  the  Association  when  business  is 
to  be  transacted. 

article  viil 

Sec.  I.  All  vacancies  occurring  in  the  Board  of 
Managers  may  be  filled  by  the  President,  with  the 
approval  of  the  Board  ;  if  by  any  reason  the  office 
of  President  shall  become  vacant,  the  same  can  only 
be  filled  by  election  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the 
Association,  of  which  one  month's  notice  shall  have 
been  given  previously. 

ARTICLE   IX. 

Sec.  I.  The  provisions  of  this  Constitution,  by 
which  none  but  active  members  can  hold  office,  may 


3CXD  HISTORY   OF  THE 

never  be  annulled,  and  no  amendment  shall  be  made 
which,  if  made,  would  allow  these  said  provisions  to 
be  annulled  ;  with  these  exceptions,  this  Constitu- 
tion may  be  amended  by  a  two-third  vote  at  any 
regular  meeting  of  the  Association,  provided  notice 
in  writing  of  the  substance  of  the  proposed  amend- 
ment shall  be  given  at  a  regular  meeting,  at  least 
one  month  previous. 


BY-LAWS   OF  THE   BOARD   OF 
MANAGERS. 


I. 

The  regular  meeting  of  the  Board  shall  be  held 
on  the  last  Tuesday  of  each  month. 

II. 

Special  meetings  of  the  Board  may  be  called  by 

the  President,  at  the  request  of  five  members,  which 

request  must  be  made  in  writing,  stating  the  object 

of  such  meeting. 

III. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Association  shall  notify  the 
members  of  the  Board  of  all  meetings,  and  in  case 
of  special  meetings,  state  the  object  thereof. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE   CHURCH.  30I 

IV. 

The  Treasurer  of  the  Association  shall  present  to 
the  Board  a  monthly  statement  of  its  finances. 

V. 

No  proposition  for  the  disbursement  of  moneys 
shall  be  entertained  except  at  the  regular  meetings 
of  the  Board. 

VI. 

Seven  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  at  all 
meetings  of  the  Board  for  the  transaction  of  busi- 
ness, but  three  or  more  shall  constitute  a  quorum 
for  the  purpose  only  of  adjournment  to  a  future  date, 
notice  of  which  may  be  given  at  any  meeting  of  the 
Church  or  Association. 

VII. 

The  regular  order  of  business  at  all  meetings  of 
the  Board  shall  be  as  follows  : 

1.  Prayer. 

2.  Reading  Minutes. 

3.  Reports  of  Standing  Committees. 

4.  Reports  of  Special  Committees. 

5.  Communications  and  Bills. 

6.  Unfinished  Business. 

7.  New  Business. 


302  HISTORY   OF  THE 

VIII. 

Each  Standing  Committee  shall  meet  as  often  as 
once  a  month,  and  report  to  the  Board  at  each  reg- 
ular meeting. 

IX. 

Reports  of  all  Committees  shall  be  in  writing. 

X. 

All  resolutions  shall  be  submitted  in  writing. 

XI. 

These  By-Laws  may  be  amended  only  by  a  two- 
third  vote  of  the  Board  at  a  regular  meeting,  notice 
of  which  having  been  given  in  writing  at  least  one 
month  previous. 


YOUNG   PEOPLE'S  ASSOCIATION. 
Officers,  1867-1885. 

Elected  November  d^  1867. 

President — William  Jarvie,  Jr. 

Vice-President — LouiS  L.  ROBBINS. 

Secretary — Charles  Tredick,  *  Charles  E.  Tuthill. 

Treasurer — Daniel  M.  Lord,  *  John  N.  Sayre,  Jr. 

Elected  Managers — ^James  L.  Harlem,  Daniel  N.  Lash- 
er, Francis  W.  Holbrook,  Henry  L  Bardwell, 
LiNNiEus  C.  Hill. 


*  Elected  to  fill  vacancies  caused  by  resignation. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  303 

Elected  November  ^,  1868. 

President — Charles  E.  Tuthill. 

Vice-Presidetit — Daniel  N.  Lasher. 

Secretary — FRANCIS  W.  HOLBROOK,  *Charles  Tredick, 

*  George  W.  Powell. 
Treasurer — Edward  A.  Hendrickson. 
Elected  Ma?iagers — Henry  L.   Penfield,  Zadock   M. 

Bacon,  Henry  L.  Bard  well,  John  N.  Sayre,  Jr., 

William  H.  Woodward. 

Elected  October  5,  1869. 

President — Francis  W.  Holbrook.  , 

Vice-President— Henry  L.  Bardwell. 

Secretary — William  Jarvie,  Jr. 

Treasurer — John  N.  Sayre,  Jr. 

Elected  Managers — Charles  E.  Tuthill,  James  Mat- 
thews, William  Mumford,  Daniel  N.  Lasher, 
Edward  A.  Hendrickson. 

Elected  October  5 ,  1870. 

President— ViKNYEi.  N.  Lasher. 

Vice-President — Edward  A.  Hendrickson. 

Secretary — Edgar  Forman. 

Treasurer — William  Jarvie,  Jr. 

Elected  Managers — ^William  Mumford,  John  N.  Sayre, 
Jr.,  James  Matthews,  Edwin  B,  Husted,  Fred- 
erick A.  Scoville. 

Elected  October  10,  187 1. 

President — William  Jarvie,  Jr. 

Vice-President — Charles  D.  Baker,  *  F.  T.  Glover. 


304  HISTORY   OP^  THE 

Secretary — Edgar  Forman. 

Treasurer — James  Matthews. 

Elected  Mana^-ers— Henry  L.   Bardwell,   Edwin  B. 

HusTED,  Edward  J.  Whitney,  Zadock  M.  Bacon, 

F.  T.  Glover. 

Elected  October  3,  1872. 

President — Edgar  Forman. 

Vice-President — Edward  W.  Seymour. 

Secretary — ^Joseph  F.  Pike. 

Treasurer — Henry  Sillcocks. 

Elected    Managers — Daniel    N.     Lasher,     William 

Jarvie,  Jr.,  a.  Stanton  Bodine,  Enoch  L.  Frost, 

Thos.  Martin. 

Elected  October  i,  1873. 
(From  Oct.  i,  1873,  to  March  4,  1874.) 
President — Augustus  W.  King. 
Vice-President — NICHOLAS  De  Groot. 
Secretary — Louis  F.  Jackson. 
Treasurer — John  N.  Sayre,  Jr. 

Elected  Managers — Francis  W.  Holbrook,  Daniel  N. 
Lasher,  Henry  L.  Bardwell,  William  Mum- 
ford,  William  Jarvie,  Jr. 

Elected  March  d^^  1874. 

President— A1.ONZO  A.  Plant. 

Vice-President — NICHOLAS  De  Groot. 

Secretary — George  H.  Martin. 

Treasurer — James  Matthews,  *  Henry  J.  Howlett. 

Elected  Managers — Daniel  N.  Lasher,  Francis  W. 
Holbrook,  William  Jarvie,  Jr.,  Edgar  Forman, 
Geo.  a.  Olney. 


LAFAYETTE   AVENUE   CHURCH.  305 

Elected  March  4,  1875. 

President — Alonzo  A.  Plant. 

Vzce-Prestdent — Francis  W.  Holbrook. 

Secretary — George  H.  Martin,  *  Frederick  E.  Cleve- 
land. 

Treasurer — Henry  J.  Howlett. 

Elected  Managers — Francis  W.  Holbrook,  Wm.  Jarvie, 
Jr.,  Henry  L.  Bardwell,  William  B.  See,  Alex- 
ander McNaughton. 

Elected  March  i,  1876. 

President — Alonzo  A.  Plant. 
Vice-President— AVGVSTVS  B.  Prichard. 
Secretary — FREDERICK  E.  Cleveland. 
Treasurer — Henry  J.  Howlett. 

Elected  Managers — Henry  S.  Snow,  Daniel  N.  Lasher, 
William  Jarvie,  Jr.,  George  H.  Martin,  Fran- 
cis W.  Holbrook. 

Elected  March  7,  1877. 

President — Frederick  E.  Cleveland. 
Vice-Presidents — George    H.     Martin,    *  Grenville 
Perrin. 
Secretary — Henry  S.  Snow. 
Treasurer — Henry  J.  Howlett. 
Elected  Managers— Ai^Q-i^zo    A.    Plant,    Francis  W. 

Holbrook,  Edgar  Forman,  William  Jarvie,  Jr., 

Caleb  V.  Smith. 


306  HISTORY   OF  THE 

Elected  March  6,  1878. 

President — Alonzo  A.  Plant. 
Vice-President — Grenville  Perrin. 
Secretary — Sylvester  E.  Bergen. 
Treasurer — Henry  J.  Howlett. 
Elected  Managers — William  Jarvie,  Jr.,  Francis  W. 

HoLBROOK,  Charles  E.  Tuthill,  Edgar  Forman, 

Frederick  E.  Cleveland. 

Elected  March  5,  1879. 

President — Grenville  Perrin. 

Vice-President— Henry  S.  Snow. 

Secretary — Edward  P.  Smith. 

Treasurer — Caleb  V.  Smith. 

Elected  Managers— ^WAAhM.  H.  CooK,  Leviness  War- 
dell,  Henry  A.  Wilson,  Frederick  E.  Cleve- 
land, W.  Ten  Broeck  S.  Imlay. 

Elected  March  3,  1880. 

President — Grenville  Perrin. 

Vice-President — Henry  S.  Snow. 

Secretary — H.  B.  FOLLETT. 

Treasurer — Caleb  V.  Smith. 

Elected  Managers — Frederick    E.    Cleveland,  Wm. 

Jarvie,  Jr.,  Francis  W.   Holbrook,   Henry  J. 

Howlett,  Edward  L.  Snow. 

Elected  March  2,  1881. 

President— Qrenyylle  Perrin. 
Vice-President — Henry  S.  Snow. 
Secretary — CLINTON  L.  Rossiter. 


LAFAYETTE  AVENUE  CHURCH.  307 

Treasurer — Edward  L.  Snow. 

Elected  Managers— JoiLiJ     R.    DAYTON,    Edward    P. 

Smith,  Henry  B.  Follett,  William  Jarvie,  Jr., 

S.  Bailey  Parker. 

Elected  March  i,  1882. 

President— H-E.^'R.Y  Sanger  Snow. 
Vice-President — Edward  P.  Smith. 
Secretary — Clinton  L.  Rossiter. 
Treasurer — Edward  L.  Snow. 
Elected  Managers — Grenville   Perrin,  Wm.  Jarvie, 

Jr.,  Sylvester  E.  Bergen,  Henry  B.  Follett, 

John  R.  Dayton. 

Elected  March  7,  1883. 

President — ^JOHN  R.  Dayton. 

Vice-President— ETiy^A.'R.D  P.  Smith. 

Secretary — WILLIAM  H.  Tuthill. 

Treasurer — Theo.  L.  Cuyler,  Jr. 

Elected  Managers— Ue^ry    S.   Snow,    John   C.   Van 

Cleaf,  Wm.  Jarvie,  Jr.,  Grenville  Perrin,  Geo. 

E.  Fahys. 

Elected  March  5,  1884. 

President— ]ou:n  R.  Dayton. 

Vice-President— Clinton  L.  Rossiter. 

Secretary — Wm.  H.  Tuthill. 

Treasurer — Theo.  L.  Cuyler,  Jr. 

Elected  Managers — GRENVILLE  Perrin,  Geo.  E.  Fahys, 

Edward    P.  Smith,  Wm.  F.  Smith,  Henry  D. 

Plant. 


308      HISTORY   OF  LAFAYETTE  AVE.   CHURCH. 

Elected  March  4,  1885. 

President. 

CLINTON  L.  ROSSITER, 

134  Berkeley  Place. 

Vice-President. 
HENRY  A.  STROHMEYER, 
490  Vanderbilt  Avenue. 

Secretary. 

HENRY  D.  PLANT, 

80  Downing  Street. 

Treasurer. 

GEORGE  M.  BOARDMAN, 

24  St.  James  Place. 

Elected  Managers. 

JOHN  R.  DAYTON,  GRENVILLE  PERRIN, 

WILLIAM  H.  TUTHILL,  THEO.  L.  CUYLER,  JR., 

GEORGE  E.   FAHYS. 


March,  1885. 

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